Ray Donovan Finale Movie Reveals A First Look At The Actor Playing A Young Ray
We are getting our first chance to see the actor who will be playing the younger version of Ray Donovan in the upcoming feature-length movie
This article is more than 2 years old
Ray Donovan fans have reason to be excited with the word that there is a movie on the way that will help tie a bow on this very popular franchise. In this day and age of content, streaming, and niche audiences, there are often paths for more stories even when a series is canceled. It’s a great sign for fans who don’t need to always live and die with the choice by one network. Now that we know we are getting Ray Donovan: The Movie, we are also seeing, for the first time, the actor who will play the younger version of the titular character.
The new images come from Entertainment Weekly and feature Chris Gray who is playing the younger Ray Donovan. We get a side-by-side look at Gray and series star Liev Schrieber who’s played the role for seven seasons and will, obviously, star in this movie as well. While they aren’t exactly spitting images of each other, that’s the way of the movie world as it is. We just need approximations who can inhabit the same character in his or her essence even if they aren’t identical. From early accounts, that’s what we are getting with Schrieber and Gray. Check out the first images from Ray Donovan: The Movie.
According to the reporting, Chris Gray wasn’t the first choice for the part of the younger Ray Donovan. That was Nate Mann, but he ended up having scheduling conflicts when it came to the actual filming. The role went to Gray after they met with him and placed him next to Schreiber to see if he stacked up, so to speak. By all accounts, he’s been able to do just that with the film fully shot and in the can right now. Gray will be used in the part of the movie that acts as something of an origin story for Ray Donovan and how he got into the “fixing” game. It’s not totally clear how much of the movie is devoted to this particular storyline.
Ray Donovan lasted on CBS for seven seasons with Liev Schrieber playing the kind of guy who operates in a seedy world of coverups and scandals, helping his clients to by fixing situations usually through uncouth strategies and tactics. It’s a classic anti-hero bent with Schrieber’s Donovan likable even though he operates outside the margins. The series was canceled after its seventh season, a surprise and disappointment to fans because the story hadn’t come to a final conclusion. Even the series showrunner David Hollander was blindsided by the news and it left the major storylines unresolved.
But in this world of streamers and other platforms looking for all the content they can get, Showtime picked up the series and decided to finish off the story with a feature-length movie. Hollander will direct Ray Donovan: The Movie and it will bring back most of the main cast as well. Jon Voight will return as Ray’s father Mickey. Plus there is Eddie Marsan, Dash Mihok, and Pooch Hall among others. It’s set to hit Showtime on January 14th of next year. We will finally be able to wrap this show up while also getting a look at how it started for Ray in the first place.
