Billy Crystal is the latest A-list actor headed for Apple.
The comedian, in a rare TV series regular role, will star in the limited series Before. Crystal will exec produce the series, which also marks a reunion for the Analyze That alum with director Barry Levinson.
Crystal will play a child psychiatrist who recently lost his wife when he encounters a troubled young boy. Sarah Thorp (Damien, Hawthorne) serves as writer on the series and will exec produce alongside Levinson, Crystal and Eric Roth. The series hails from Paramount Television Studios.
Sources note that while Apple has picked up the project, additional details are still being finalized including the number of the episodes. Apple declined comment.
Crystal’s TV credits include ABC’s Soap and FX’s The Comedians. Levinson’s recent TV projects include Hulu’s Dopesick and Peacock’s upcoming The Missing. Roth recently co-penned Dune and wrote Martin Scorsese’s feature Killers of the Flower Moon.
Apple has been aggressively spending to pursue hot projects and cast them with A-list stars including The Morning Show, WeCrashed, Dickinson, Physical, Schmigadoon and scores of others.