I Know This Much is True (Breakdown for HBO Limited Series)

I KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE
Miniseries
This is a HBO limited series of 6 episodes.
SAG-AFTRA

Writer-Director-Executive Producer: Derek Cianfrance
Actor-Executive Producer: Mark Ruffalo
Executive Producer for FilmNation Entertainment: Ben Browning, Glen Basner
Exec Producer: Wally Lamb, Gregg Fienberg, Anya Epstein
Co-Executive Producer: Lynette Howell Taylor, Jamie Patricof
Casting Director: Bonnie Timmermann
Casting Associate: Stephen Bozzo
Start Date: Late March 2019
Location: New York State


SYNOPSIS: Dominick Birdsey’s life has been marked by personal tragedy, thwarted ambition, and plain bad luck. After the death of his mother, Dominick’s paramount tribulation becomes caring for his schizophrenic twin brother Thomas. When Thomas goes off his meds and amputates his hand, Dominick devotes himself to freeing Thomas from a lifetime of over-medicated confinement in the Hatch Forensic Institute. 

DOMINICK & THOMAS BIRDSEY
7-10. **This MUST BE identical twins. MUST look like a young Mark Ruffalo.** If out of the country, actors must be able to do an American-accent. Where Dominick is self-assured, Thomas is always needy, awkward, and introverted. Dominick is always placed in charge of making sure that Thomas is cared for. Both boys are terrified of their stepfather Ray, as he is demanding and abusive towards them. Both boys love their mother, but their love comes out in different ways. Thomas is compliant, obedient, and a “Momma’s boy.” Dominick is always questioning, who is our biological father?

RALPH DRINKWATER (YOUNGER)
7-10. Native American. An intimidating child. He picks on Thomas. He has a troublemaker sister who is murdered. Twin brother to Penny Ann Drinkwater.

PENNY ANN DRINKWATER
7-10. Native American. Ralph's twin sister. Murdered. “Penny Ann wasn’t just poor; she was bad. She stole... When something in our class was missing, it became routine for Miss Higgins to walk to the back of the class and inspect Penny Ann’s sloppy desk. Penny Ann always denied any knowledge of how the stolen goods had landed in her possession. She cried frequently. Her nose ran. She was always coughing.” She makes up stories to compensate for her lack of popularity.


DOMENICO ONOFRIO TEMPESTA
38 to 40 years old, Mediterranean male.  Looking for an Italian actor, specifically Sicilan, who speaks Italian and English. Role will require fluent Italian (with a Sicilian dialect). The twins’ maternal grandfather from Sicily. They grew up in the house he built, literally and figuratively. Dominick’s namesake. The eulogy on his headstone reads, “THE GREATEST GRIEFS ARE SILENT.” His wife is buried on the opposite side of the graveyard. His picture hangs in Concettina’s bedroom, across from a portrait of Jesus Christ. “In the framed photograph, Domenico’s eyes seemed guarded and suspicious — as if he didn’t quite trust whoever was taking the picture. I looked over at Jesus’ eyes on the adjacent wall. Compared the two. Jesus was a sad sack; Domenico was a son of a bitch.”

IGNAZIA TUCCI TEMPESTA
28 to 40 years old, Mediterranean female.  Looking for an Italian actor, specifically Sicilan, who speaks Italian and English. Role will require fluent Italian (with a Sicilian dialect). Dominick’s maternal grandmother. Beautiful. Hellcat. Long hair, black and wild. Shows impudence toward Domenico. Marries him against her will. As Domenico describes, she was “a wife to break a man’s heart.”

PROSPERINE TUCCI ("THE MONKEY")
28 to 35 years old, Mediterranean female.  Looking for an Italian actor, specifically Sicilian, who speaks Italian and English. Role will require fluent Italian (with a Sicilian dialect). Ignazia’s half-sister. Rejected by Domenico. 30’s, with the stature of a girl of twelve. Skeletal features. Lives with Domenico and Ignazia. “...underneath the surface, trouble ate away inside my house like termites in the cellar. Quietly, that Goddamned termite named Prosperine was practicing her treachery — destroying what little peace we had enjoyed at 66-through-68 Hollyhock Avenue.”

VINCENZO
28 to 40 years old, Mediterranean male.  Looking for an Italian actor, specifically Sicilian, who speaks Italian and English. Role will require fluent Italian (with a Sicilian dialect). Domenico’s younger brother. He is a philanderer. And he loves his pet monkey.

ROCCO
28 to 40 years old, Mediterranean male.  Looking for an Italian actor, specifically Sicilian, who speaks Italian and English. Role will require fluent Italian (with a Sicilian dialect). Brother to Nunzio. He is a plumber. He lives in Brooklyn. He and his brother sell their half-sisters, Ignazia and Prosperine, into marriage with Domenico.

NUNZIO
28 to 40 years old, Mediterranean male.  Looking for an Italian actor, specifically Sicilian, who speaks Italian and English. Role will require fluent Italian (with a Sicilian dialect). Brother to Rocco. He is also a plumber. He lives in Brooklyn. He and his brother sell their half-sisters, Ignazia and Prosperine, into marriage with Domenico.

SHAWN TUDESCO
25-40. POWER LIFTER. Young guy in shades (slicked-back Pat Riley hairstyle, tiny red earring in one ear).  The insurance adjuster sent to assess the damage to Dominick's truck.  Not sure about Dominick's story.