• Details about the hit USA Network series, meet the cast, read the critics
Mr. Robot, one of the hottest and most talked about shows of the moment, will have its Australian television premiere on Presto after the SVOD streaming service secured rights to the drama-thriller series from NBCUniversal under a joint deal with Foxtel.
In March, the first episode of Mr. Robot premiered in the US at the South by Southwest Film Festival where it won the Audience Award for Episodic Television and then later aired on the USA Network on June 24.
The first seven episodes of the critically lauded 10-part series from Universal Cable Productions will now be available to stream on demand for Presto TV and Presto Entertainment bundle customers beginning on August 14. The remaining episodes of Season 1 will be added to the Presto service shortly after their US broadcast.
Mr. Robot has been described as “The Social Network meets ‘Occupy Wall Street’”, and has already won widespread critical acclaim – an “A”-rated review (Entertainment Weekly), the “most buzzworthy new show” (Ad Age), “a modern classic” (www.forbes.com), “one of the best shows of the summer” (www.nerdist.com) and “damn near perfect” (www.cinemablend.com).
The series follows Elliot (Rami Malek, The Pacific), a young computer programmer who works as a cyber-security engineer by day and as a vigilante hacker by night. A loner with a social phobia of being around most people, Elliot believes in using his computing skills to help those he cares about, as well as to punish those he believes are bringing harm to others.
However, Elliot finds himself at a crossroad when a mysterious leader (Christian Slater, The Adderall Diaries) of an underground hacker group recruits him to destroy the firm he is paid to protect. Compelled by his personal beliefs, Elliot struggles to resist the chance to take down the multinational CEOs he believes are running (and ruining) the world.
Mr. Robot also stars Portia Doubleday (Her), Carly Chaikin (Suburgatory) and Martin Wallström (Simple Simon). Sam Esmail (Comet) is writer and executive producer. Anonymous Content’s Steve Golin (True Detective) and Chad Hamilton (Breakup at a Wedding) also serve as executive producers.
“Mr. Robot is daring piece of television which tackles the controversial subject of hacking. It has critics and audiences raving, especially about the standout performance of Rami Malek as Elliot, and we are delighted to make the series available first in Australia as a premiere to Presto subscribers,” said Presto interim CEO Shaun James.
“Mr. Robot continues Presto’s commitment to provide compelling content offering for its customers and follows the recent acquisition of the David Duchovny starring drama series Aquarius which has become the most watched series ever on the service since launch.”
“Mr. Robot is a truly unique, contemporary and culturally relevant drama series. Since its premiere a few months ago, the show has already achieved great success, both with viewers and in the media, and we are proud to partner with Presto and bring this series to Australian audiences,” said Chris Taylor, VP, NBCUniversal International Networks & Distribution, Australia & New Zealand.
>> Mr. Robot – Fact sheet
Mr. Robot follows Elliot (Rami Malek, “The Pacific”), a young programmer who works as a cyber- security engineer by day and as a vigilante hacker by night. Elliot finds himself at a crossroads when the mysterious leader (Christian Slater, “The Adderall Diaries”) of an underground hacker group recruits him to destroy the firm he is paid to protect.
Compelled by his personal beliefs, Elliot struggles to resist the chance to take down the multinational CEOs he believes are running (and ruining) the world. The series also stars Portia Doubleday (“Her”), Carly Chaikin (“Suburgatory”) and Martin Wallström (“Simple Simon”).
Mr. Robot is produced by Universal Cable Productions, this contemporary and culturally resonant drama is executive produced by Sam Esmail (“Comet”) and Anonymous Content’s Steve Golin (“True Detective”) and Chad Hamilton (“Breakup at a Wedding”).
>> Characters, cast and crew
Elliot Alderson (played by Rami Malek)
As a senior network technician for cyber security firm Allsafe, Elliot protects corporate clients — including the ubiquitous Evil Corp — from security breaches and data theft. As a vigilante hacker, he monitors the people in his daily life and protects those he’s close to from their own flaws, sometimes with unpredictable results.
Originally from Washington Township, New Jersey, Elliot now lives alone on the Lower East Side. He suffers from crippling anxiety, which stems from memories of his difficult childhood. His father died when Elliot was young, and his now-estranged mother was brutally cruel. Elliot has spent most of his adult life isolated from the world around him.
After being arrested for financial hacking, he has been attending court- ordered therapy for almost a year. Elliot, however, prefers self-medication by morphine, an addiction he mediates with suboxone. He obtains both from his next door neighbor, Shayla.
With the arrival of Mr. Robot, Elliot’s world changes entirely.
Fsociety’s members and mission offer him a renewed purpose — though accompanied by a risk of heightened paranoia — leaving him faced with the question of whether to numbly continue the life he knows or risk everything and participate in Mr. Robot’s revolution.
• About Rami Malek
Rami Malek most recently starred in “Night at the Museum 3” opposite Ben Stiller. He has also appeared in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “The Master” opposite Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Adams.
Additional film credits include Spike Lee’s “Old Boy” opposite Josh Brolin and Elizabeth Olsen, “Night at the Museum 1 & 2,” “Short Term 12,” directed by Destin Cretton and the DreamWorks feature “Need for Speed,” directed by Scott Waugh, in which he portrayed a car expert whose motivations hinge upon his sense of loyalty and justice.
Malek’s TV credits include a memorable arcs on “24” as ‘Marcus Al-Zacar’ and “The Pacific” as ‘Snafu’ – a performance that garnered incredible reviews and led him being cast by Tom Hanks in “Larry Crowne” at Universal and ‘Bill Condon’ in the last instalment of “Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn.”
Mr. Robot (played by Christian Slater)
A mysterious figure that approaches Elliot with the opportunity to contribute to a worldwide revolution, Mr. Robot has a murky history but huge plans for the future. He recruits the members of fsociety to come together at an abandoned arcade — and is relentless in his leadership of the team.
• About Christian Slater
Slater has had an impressive career that spans the worlds of film, television and stage. Most recently, he was seen in Lars von Trier’s drama “Nymphomaniac,” opposite Shia LaBeouf and Uma Thurman. Additional film credits include “Hot Tub Time Machine 2,” “Bullet to the Head,” “The Power of Few” and “Stranded”
In 2012, Slater starred in “Freaky Deaky,” “Without Men” and the crime thriller “Guns, Girls and Gambling.” Prior to that, he appeared opposite Anthony Hopkins in “Slipstream” as well as “He Was a Quiet Man.” In 2006, Slater earned a Screen Actors Guild Award and Critics’ Choice Awards nomination for ensemble cast for his work in “Bobby.”
Slater returned to theatre in London in 2006 and 2007. In 2007, he starred in “Swimming with Sharks,” directed by Wilson Milan. In spring 2006, he reprised his critically acclaimed role as Randle P. McMurphy in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” Slater won a Whatsonstage Best Actor Award for his performance as well as the Favourite Actor award two years in a row at the Big Star Awards.
In 2005, Slater starred on Broadway in Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie,” playing the role of ‘Tom’ opposite Jessica Lange. He received an award for Favourite Featured Actor in a Broadway Play at the Broadway.com Audience Awards.
Slater’s TV credits include regular appearances on the animated series “Archer,” as well as “Breaking In,” “The West Wing,” “The Office,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “My Name is Earl,” “The Forgotten” and “My Own Worst Enemy.”
Following his film debut in 1985 in “The Legend of Billie Jean,” Slater’s taken on vast film roles including “Windtalkers,” “Broken Arrow,” “True Romance,” “Very Bad Things” and Michael Lehmann’s cult classic “Heathers.” Other film credits include “The Contender,” “Bed of Roses,” “Murder in the First,” “Interview with a Vampire,” “Untamed Heart,” “Pump Up the Volume,” Jean Jacques Annaud’s “The Name of the Rose,” Francis Ford Coppola’s “Tucker: The Man and His Dream,” “Gleaming the Cube” and “Churchill: The Hollywood Years.”
Slater’s producing credits include “Basil” and “Hard Rain,” both of which he also starred in. He also served as an executive producer on Peter Berg’s “Very Bad Things.” In 1996, Slater made his directorial debut with a short film called “Museum of Love.”
An alum of the Dalton School and the Professional Children’s School in New York City, Slater debuted on Broadway at the age of nine in “The Music Man,” alongside Dick Van Dyke, and went on to play the title lead in “Oliver.” Slater garnered critical acclaim in 1998 for his starring role in the Broadway production of “Side Man.” “Macbeth,” “David Copperfield” and “Merlin” also number among his Broadway credits. Off-Broadway, Slater has been seen in such productions as “Landscape of the Body,” “Between Daylight,” “Boonville,” “Dry Land” and “Somewhere’s Better.”
Angela Moss (played by Portia Doubleday)
As an Allsafe account executive, Angela has over five years of marketing innovation experience with hands-on knowledge of go-to-market routes, business strategy and the ability to connect marketing to sales growth. She is ambitious but lacks confidence, savvy and technological skills. She relies on her childhood friend and colleague, Elliot Alderson, for assistance in critical situations — in both business and her personal life.
Angela’s mother died when she was young, from cancer which developed after her exposure to toxic chemicals at a factory owned by Evil Corp. She has a strong relationship with her father, Don, though events at Allsafe begin to strain their relationship. As Angela navigates corporate politics, Don worries that his daughter is approaching a moral compromise.
• About Portia Doubleday
Doubleday most recently starred opposite Chloe Moretz in “Carrie” as bad girl ‘Chris Hargensen’ and had a cameo opposite Joaquin Phoenix as the sex-surrogate in Spike Jonze’s Academy Award winning film, “Her.”
Additional credits include the film “Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son” as well as a recurring role as Matthew Perry’s assistant on the TV series “Mr. Sunshine.”
Doubleday’s first leading role was opposite Michael Cera in Miguel Arteta’s film “Youth in Revolt,” which was named one of the ten best films of the year by the National Board of Review. Additional roles include the AFI short “18,” written and directed by Joy Gohring.
Darlene (played by Carly Chaikin)
Darlene is a malware coder whose skills are fundamental to fsociety’s master plan. Though biting and jaded, she becomes Elliot’s confidante. He relies on her resilience and creativity for quick problem solving and fast hacks. She is an excellent lock picker, a crass jokester and a jobless transient. She obtains money from hacking ATMs.
Like most fsociety members, she is reluctant to reveal too many details of her history, and she is paranoid about communication. However, Darlene’s loyalty trumps all, and in the end, her big heart overrides her sharp tongue.
• About Carly Chaikin
Chaikin is widely known for her portrayal of ‘Dalia Royce’ on the hit series “Suburgatory.” During its run, she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series at the 2013 Critics Choice Award and Choice TV Villain at the 2013 Teen Choice Awards.
She made her big screen debut in “The Last Song” starring alongside Greg Kinnear, Kelly Preston, Liam Hemsworth and Miley Cyrus. Other credits include the independent feature “My Uncle Rafael” and “Escape,” as well as the upcoming television film “Bad Blood.” TV credits include a guest starring role on the hit series “Maron” as well as “NTSF: SD: SVU”
Professionally, Chaikin executive produced and starred in the short film “Nowhere To Go,” which won the Best Avant Garde Award at the First Glance Film Festival and was nominated for Best Short at the Beloit Film Festival. She also produced and co-starred in the short film “Dissonance” which featured an all-star cast including Lorraine Bracco, Kelly Preston, Nancy Travis and Henry Winkler.
Tyrell Wellick (played by Martin Wallström)
After a hacking scandal, Wellick was appointed Interim Chief Technology Officer at Evil Corp. As CTO, Wellick relays the Evil Corp’s technology strategy to investors, supervises software development processes, and identifies platforms for delivering services as well as laying the foundations for new security protocols and measures. The Evil Corp job is a position he intends to make permanent, no matter who he has to impress or suppress to achieve this goal.
His partner in social climbing and career mobility is his wife, Joanna, who goads him to more aggressive action and darker schemes. While Tyrell depends on their partnership, he also struggles to find his own path. When his interest in Elliot collides with his professional mission, Tyrell must choose whether to follow Joanna’s plan or take matters into his own hands.
• About Martin Wallström
In 2013, Wallström starred in “Easy Money III,” the third instalment of the very successful trilogy starring Joel Kinnaman.
Additional film credits include the Swedish romantic comedy “Ego” and “Simple Simon,” which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2010 and was on the Academy Awards shortlist, composed of nine films narrowed down to five nominations, for Best Foreign Language Film in 2011.
Most recently Wallström starred on the television series “The Hundred Code,” starring Michael Nyqvist and Dominic Monaghan.
Wallström resides in Stockholm, Sweden.
Sam Esmail, Executive Producer
Sam Esmail serves as Creator, Executive Producer and Writer on the psychological thriller series Mr. Robot, his first foray into television.
After graduating NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Esmail attended AFI’s directing program where he received his MFA. In 2008, he wrote his first feature screenplay, “Sequels, Remakes & Adaptations,” which landed on the Black List, a survey taken by more than 600 production companies and film financier executives about their most liked screenplays. He followed that up a year later with his second Black List script, “Norm the Movie.” His feature directorial debut, “Comet,” was released through IFC last year.
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What Critics are saying
“Viewers have yet to see anything quite like Mr. Robot” – Mashable
“Intriguing stakes and a brilliant performance… Mr. Robot is damn near perfect” – Cinemablend
“(One of) six new shows to watch” – USA Today
“Poised to intrigue us non-hacker geniuses and please the real ones” – Rotten Tomatoes
“Edgy New Series” – Los Angeles Times
“Mr. Robot is definitely trying to make s statement”; and “Daring” – The Hollywood Reporter
“Smart, gritty drama” – NY Daily News
“Already looking forward to where the show will go from here” – The Verge
“Distinctive mood” – The New York Times