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Taylor Kitsch Cast as Branch Davidians Leader David Koresh in Waco Miniseries

Taylor Kitsch’s next small-screen role comes with a built-in following.

The Friday Night Lights/True Detective alum has been cast as Branch Davidians spiritual sect leader David Koresh in Waco, a new event series being developed by Weinstein Television (Marco Polo) and largely based on the biographies A Place Called Waco and Sinful Messiah.

Michael Shannon (Boardwalk Empire) will play the lead FBI negotiator (and Sinful Messiah author), Gary Noesener. The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news.

In February of 1993, the ATF initiated a raid on the Waco, Texas ranch that the Branch Davidians (a subset of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church) had been operating out of since 1955. That raid escalated into a deadly shoot out and then a 51-day standoff, ultimately culminating in a fire that killed almost 80 of the group’s members.

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