Starz has found its Leonardo Da Vinci.
The cable network and BBC Worldwide Productions have tapped British actor Tom Riley to play the Italian Renaissance man in Starz's upcoming series "Da Vinci's Demons." Riley will play the artist and inventor "during his turbulent youth" in Florence, Italy.
The historical fantasy — penned by "The Dark Knight Rises"' writer David S. Goyer — will envision Leonardo as a super-talented misfit who "struggles to live within the confines of his own reality and time" and "begins to not only see the future, but invent it."
In his native England, Riley has established himself as an actor capable of switching between stage, film and television. In addition to such films as "I Want Candy," the actor has appeared in productions of "The Vertical Hour" and "The Woman Before," and stars on the ITV medical drama "Monroe."
