The critically-acclaimed STARZ Original series “Counterpart” is set to begin production on Wednesday, February 28th in Berlin.  The 10-episode second season of the one-hour scripted drama is from creator Justin Marks, Gilbert Films, and Anonymous Content, with MRC serving as the studio for the series.  Season two of the espionage spy-fi thriller will continue production in Los Angeles later this year.

Betty Gabriel (Get Out, Purge: Election Year, “Westworld”) joins the cast as ‘Naya Temple,’ a former FBI agent recently hired by the Office of Interchange to clean house, a figure both intimidating and magnetic. Gabriel is best known for her portrayal of ‘Georgina’ in the Academy Award®-nominated film Get Out. A graduate of the prestigious Juilliard Drama School, she will next be seen in Blumhouse and Neon’s thriller Upgrade opposite Logan Marshall-Green, which will premiere next month at SXSW. Gabriel is represented by Generate and Greene & Associates.

Gabriel joins Academy Award®-winner J.K. Simmons (Whiplash, The Accountant, Juno) who plays ‘Howard Silk,’ Olivia Williams (The Sixth Sense, Hyde Park on Hudson, “Manhattan”) as ‘Emily Burton Silk,’ Harry Lloyd (The Theory of Everything, Jane Eyre, “Manhattan”) as ‘Peter Quayle,’ Nicholas Pinnock (Captain America: The First Avenger, “Marcella”) as ‘Ian Shaw,’ Nazanin Boniadi (“Homeland,” Ben-Hur, Hotel Mumbai) as ‘Clare,’ and Sara Serraiocco (Salvo, Cloro, Worldly Girl) as ‘Baldwin.’

About “Counterpart”
“Counterpart,” is about a mysterious world hidden beneath the surface of our everyday existence. Howard Silk (J.K. Simmons) is a lowly cog in the bureaucratic machinery of a Berlin-based United Nations spy agency. When Howard discovers that his organization safeguards the secret of a crossing into a parallel dimension, he is thrust into a shadow world of intrigue, danger, and double-cross… where the only man he can trust is his near-identical counterpart from this parallel world. The show explores themes of identity, fate and lost love, posing the eternal question, “what if our lives could have been different?”

Created, written, and executive produced by Justin Marks (The Jungle Book), “Counterpart” season two is also executive produced by Gary Gilbert (La La Land), Jordan Horowitz (La La Land), Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game), and Keith Redmon (The Revenant) and Bard Dorros (Spotlight) with Anonymous Content. MRC serves as the studio for the series.

For more information on “Counterpart” and access to press materials and show assets, please visit the new STARZ Media Room, compatible with iPad devices: https://mediaroom.starz.com/

Visit the official “Counterpart” Facebook Page, and follow @Counterpart_STZ on Twitter and @counterpart_stz on Instagram. Join the conversation with #Counterpart and #STARZ.

About Starz
Starz (www.starz.com) a Lionsgate company (NYSE: LGF.A, LGF.B), is a leading global media and entertainment company that provides premium subscription video programming on domestic U.S. pay television networks and produces and distributes content for worldwide audiences, including its investment in the STARZ PLAY Arabia OTT service. Starz is home to the flagship STARZ® brand and STARZ ENCORE channels and provides high-quality, entertaining premium subscription video programming with 17 premium pay TV channels and associated on-demand and online services, including the STARZ app. Sold through U.S. multichannel video distributors, including cable operators, satellite television providers, telecommunications companies, and other online and digital platforms, Starz offers subscribers more than 5,000 distinct premium television episodes and feature films every year and up to 1,500 every month, including STARZ Original series, first-run movies and other popular movie and television programming.

About MRC
MRC is a leading film and television studio, specializing in the creation of content in partnership with the industry’s foremost creative talent.  The company develops, produces and finances film and TV for leading distributors including Sony, Warner Bros., Universal and Fox, as well as premier networks including HBO, ABC, Netflix, AMC, Lifetime and Comedy Central.  MRC is the studio behind the Emmy® and Golden Globe® winning seriesHouse of Cards as well as Ozark, both distributed by Netflix and the critically acclaimed series Counterpart distributed by Starz.  The company also developed, produced and financed Ted, distributed by Universal Pictures, the highest grossing original comedy of all time worldwide and the three-time Academy Award® nominated hit film, Baby Driver.  For more information, please visit www.mrcstudios.com.

About Gilbert Films
Gilbert Films is the Los Angeles-based production company founded by Academy Award®-nominated, Golden Globe-winning producer Gary Gilbert.  Through both independent and studio films and elevated television series, Gilbert Films’ projects have been nominated for 18 Academy Awards, 11 Golden Globes, 15 BAFTAs and 7 Film Independent Spirit Awards. Gilbert most recently produced the acclaimed award-winning film LA LA LAND, written and directed by Damien Chazelle, and starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. He also produced the Academy Award-nominated film THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, written and directed by Lisa Cholodenko, and starring Annette Bening, Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo. Gilbert and Gilbert Films’ first feature, writer/director Zach Braff’s GARDEN STATE, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was honored with the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature. Other recent credits include SAVE THE DATE, YOU ARE HERE, THE KEEPING ROOM, MARGARET, FROM PRADA TO NADA, HENRY POOLE IS HERE and MEET MONICA VELOUR. Gilbert Films’ first television series COUNTERPART premiered on STARZ in January 2018. The sci-fi thriller stars Academy Award-winner J.K. Simmons (WHIPLASH), and is directed by Academy Award-nominee Morten Tyldum (THE IMITATION GAME).