Rising Australian star Lincoln Younes has been cast as the lead of “Last King of the Cross,” a biographical series about a notorious night club owner and gangster being produced for Paramount Plus.
Told in ten episodes, the series is an operatic story of two brothers, Sam and John Ibrahim who organize the street but lose each other in their ascent to power.
Kieran Darcy-Smith (“Wolf Creek,” “The Duel”) has writing credits and is set as the director. Production in Sydney, New South Wales, is due to begin at the weekend, according to local reports.
Based on John Ibrahim’s autobiography of the same name, the series tracks Ibrahim’s rise from a poverty-stricken Lebanese immigrant with no education, no money, and no prospects, to Australia’s most infamous nightclub mogul in Sydney’s Kings Cross. The district is a mini-Atlantic City, barely half a mile long with every form of criminality on display.
“Last King of The Cross” is a Helium Pictures production for Paramount Plus Australia with Cineflix Rights as the exclusive international distribution partner. It is produced by Mark Fennessy and Karl Zwicky.
Younes, who is Australian born and has Lebanese heritage, had his biggest role in Eva Longoria-starring “Grand Hotel.” He has also appeared in “Tangle” and the recent Australian Broadcasting Corporation surf drama “Barons,” and earlier got a break in Australian TV staple “Home and Away.”
“It is an honor to have the opportunity to play such a formidable character in a world where truth is often stranger than fiction. I feel privileged to lead a diverse cast with a Lebanese character at its center, and I’m excited to bring the world to Sydney’s Kings Cross once more,” Younes said.
“[Younes] is a terrific young actor and he’ll be taking us all on a wild ride. John Ibrahim is – amongst so many things – an enigma wrapped in a mystery. He is a fascinating and compelling character. An individual. Therefore, finding the right person to portray him accurately was paramount. Finding Lincoln was a blessing,” said Darcy-Smith.