North

AMC's Franklin expedition TV series seeks Inuit woman to play 'major character'

Creators of The Terror, set to air on AMC in 2017, are looking for an Inuit woman to play a major character in a fictional series based on Sir John Franklin's 1846 expedition into the Northwest Passage.

Creators looking for woman between the ages of 16 and 30 who's familiar with an Inuit language

Sir John Franklin and crew attempted to sail the HMS Terror and HMS Erebus across the Northwest Passage into Canadian waters, when they got trapped in ice and had to abandon the ships two years later off King William Island near Gjoa Haven, Nunavut.

The creators of a new fictional TV series based on Sir John Franklin's 1846 naval expedition into the Northwest Passage, are looking for a young Inuit woman to play a major role in the story. 

They're looking for someone between the ages of 16 and 30 who is familiar with an Inuit language  — Inupiaq, Inuktitut, Kalaallisut —  but doesn't have to be fluent. 

AMC's upcoming The Terror, based on the bestselling novel by Dan Simmons, will follow the story of the voyage of the HMS Terror and HMS Erebus. The two ships attempted to cross the Northwest Passage into Canadian waters and got trapped in ice.

The vessels had to be abandoned two years later off King William Island near what's now Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, according to a note left by the crew in a cairn on the island. 

Franklin and his 128 crew members ultimately perished.

In this twist on the story, the crew is stalked by a mysterious predator and struggles to survive.

According to an announcement about the Inuit character, which has been circulating on community Facebook pages in Nunavut, the woman in the story comes in contact with the stranded sailors, and "finds herself drawn into the middle of their struggle to survive."

"She is a powerful, intelligent, compassionate person who suffers great hardship and finds herself tested to the limits of her endurance," the announcement said.

Series writer David Kajganich, far right, joins Ralph Fiennes, Luca Guadagnino and Tilda Swinton for a special screening of A Bigger Splash at the Museum Of Modern Art on Thursday, April 21, 2016, in New York. (Andy Kropa/The Associated Press)

The series is written by David Kajganich, known for crime dramas True Story and A Big Splash

Soo Hugh, writer for the Netflix Original series The Killing, helps produce the show alongside executive producer Ridley Scott. 

Applicants don't have to have any performance experience, but must be available between Oct. 10, 2016 and Apr. 30, 2017.

The Terror's first season will have 10 episodes, set to air in 2017. Filming is scheduled to begin Oct. 31.