‘CITY’ GANGS UP ON ’90S TOWNIES
Bostonians so bad they’re good: Amanda Clayton is ready to show us a human side to Charlestown criminals in the upcoming series “City on a Hill,” which is loosely based on the Boston Miracle of the 1990s.
“The whole series is basically about the way the FBI, DA and local police came in and infiltrated these gangs that were so untouchable for so long, collapsed their little system and changed the crime rate drastically over the course of 10 years,” the Rhode Island-raised actress told the Track.
“For some of these families in Charlestown, it was devastating because this is how they lived life,” she continued. “Nobody talks about that side of things, about how their way of life was altered for the greater good of the community.”
In the Showtime series, Clayton plays Cathy Ryan, the wife of Jonathan Tucker’s character, Frankie Ryan, who’s supposed to be the leader of the “No Name” gang. While Clayton obviously applauds law enforcement for cleaning up our city on several occasions, she does hope that by depicting the gritty lives of the townies who ended up on the wrong side of history, we might muster up a speck of sympathy, deserved or not.
“The nature of the area was closeknit and hard-working — no matter the type of work it was,” she said. “It was about community and family, and if someone started poking around, you’ll ride or die for your own.”
Clayton, who was here to shoot the pilot with Kevin Bacon and Aldis Hodge at the end of last year, is currently in town to support her co-star Jimmy Cummings and his brother Dan Cummings’ Canton nonprofit, Journey Forward, as it hosts its ninth annual Mile Walk tomorrow at 11 a.m. And she’ll hopefully be back in the area when production for the show, which is now being written, starts in the next few months.
“I would imagine we have to film location stuff (in Boston),” she continued, adding that she doesn’t yet know the shooting locations for the rest of the 12 episodes comprising Season 1, slated for a 2019 premiere.
“You can’t fake it when you’re telling a story based on real events happening around Boston,” she said. “Especially having Ben Affleck and Matt Damon attached.”
Damon and Affleck are both tied to the project as executive producers through their company Pearl Street Films, with the latter Cambridge native also creating the show alongside Chuck MacLean. Affleck has recently made headlines for re-entering rehab, but Clayton says it won’t impact the series.
“Not at all,” Clayton said. “This is his baby. He came up with the story and created the story years ago and put it in the hands of some really incredible people, and they’re the ones who are really pulling it all together on a daily basis.
“With everything happening with him, we’re wishing him the best, obviously, but I’m sure he’ll be present and heavily involved when the time comes.”