Hulu Greenlights 'Durango' with Cooper Hoffman and Kathryn Newton

By Elena Vasquez

Hulu has picked up "Durango," Eliza Clarke's drama pilot starring Cooper Hoffman and Kathryn Newton, to series. Merritt Wever, Mason Gooding and Abbey Lee have joined the cast. The order confirms Hulu's investment in the project after Jesse Peretz shot and executive produced the pilot.

What is 'Durango' about?

The series follows two young lovers in a ski town. The official logline reads: "Mikey (Hoffman) is a ski bum townie chasing a buzz. Bunny (Newton) is a homeschooled runaway working as a greasy-spoon waitress. Together they're riding an avalanche of bad decisions and falling in love while running from cops, criminals, and Mikey's wife in pursuit of their own American dream."

The premise pairs a crime chase with a love story. It also plants a domestic complication — Mikey's wife — at the center of the plot, a thread the new casting directly extends.

Who do the new cast members play?

• Merritt Wever as Joni. The character is "a sharp and self-effacing local detective who's deeply unimpressed by almost everything. After 20 years of doing everything right in a resort town where the biggest case is usually a stolen ski pass, Joni has been handed the most interesting thing to happen to her entire career."
• Mason Gooding as Miles. He is "a young detective with a sharp mind and a sharper mouth. Whip-smart and relentlessly good-natured, he's the perfect foil to his colleague Joni."
• Abbey Lee as Irina. She plays Mikey's Russian wife, who is "obsessed with American pop culture and is seeking US citizenship. She has Mikey in the palm of her hand."

Wever's Joni carries the show's longest character biography — a detective stuck for two decades on stolen-ski-pass cases before this one lands on her desk. The 20-year frame signals where the series positions its crime engine: small-town boredom disrupted by a major case.

Who is making the series?

Eliza Clarke wrote "Durango" and serves as executive producer alongside Media Res' Michael Ellenberg and Christina Malach. American Light & Fixture also produces. Jesse Peretz directed and executive produced the pilot. 20th Television and Media Res are co-studios on the project.

The behind-the-camera lineup gives the series two established production companies and a pilot director, Peretz, already embedded as an executive producer.

What have the actors done before?

Wever is known for "Nurse Jackie" and "Primetime." She is repped by Innovative Artists, Viking Entertainment and attorney Jeff Bernstein. Gooding's credits include "Love, Victor" and "Scream"; he is repped by CAA, Untitled, Sloane, Offer, Weber and Dern and Narrative. Lee is repped by United Management Australia, CAA US, The B-Side UK, Next Management and Kirrilly Sams.

Hulu has not announced a premiere date. The series order moves "Durango" from pilot to production, with Hoffman, Newton, Wever, Gooding and Lee set as the announced core cast.