EXCLUSIVE: The Netflix actress unpacked her new crime drama based on a notorious real-life Irish American gang.
Bosch legend Titus Welliver and Ozark star Jessica Frances Dukes have spoken candidly about portraying a detective partnership in a gritty new period drama.
The Westies, a fresh gangster series which arrived on MGM+ (available through Amazon Prime Video) yesterday, features Netflix actress Dukes as Birdie Polk, who is resolute in her mission to shield New York from a sinister criminal underworld.
Meanwhile, Welliver portrays her hesitant police partner Glenn Keenan, whose complex ties with Eamonn Sweeney (J. K. Simmons), head of Irish American gang The Westies, compels him to navigate a precarious balance between opposing forces.
The Westies, co-created by Narcos’ Chris Brancato and Michael Panes, draws from a genuine Irish American gang which operated from Hell’s Kitchen throughout the 1960s until the late 1980s.
Dukes, who portrays Special Agent Maya Miller in Netflix’s Ozark, shared her thoughts on taking on a markedly different kind of FBI agent.
She said: “I’ve been a fan of Chris Brancato and Michael Panes for a while and being able to dive into one of their worlds was something that was a goal of mine, so to be a part of this was really exciting.
“To jump into FBI world again, at first I was like ‘Do I want to do FBI again?’ and then I read it and I was like, ‘Oh, this chick is not Maya Miller’. And so I was so excited to dive into this ballsy woman. It was so much fun – I loved playing her.”
Considering the broader importance of the role, she added: “She’s given this opportunity to bring these guys down and she’s put in this place of power in [the early 1980s].”
She continued: “There is one woman in a sea of men running this show. I feel like Birdie starts the show with the reward and now it’s all about, ‘Is she going to succeed and prove all the naysayers waiting for her failure wrong?’ And I truly believe she’s got the golden ticket with Keenan.”
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Welliver, who portrays the titular Harry Bosch in Bosch on Prime Video, commented on the new series: “For me, it’s very personal because I’m a New Yorker and I was in and around that time.
“All characters are different and Glenn Keenan is the polar opposite of Harry Bosch if you look at these two guys.”
Discussing his character further and how he engages with Simmons’ Sweeney and Dukes’ Polk, he observed: “The scenes with J.K. were great because those worlds are very markedly different.
“Sweeney and Keenan have a long history together, whereas the relationship with Polk and Keenan is new, but there’s an interesting similarity.
“So they’re both trying to puppeteer Keenan and he is basically saying, ‘Nobody has strings on me.’
“And that’s what I think is the interesting aspect of that character and he emerges with a sense of independence, but at a serious cost.”
The official synopsis for The Westies from MGM+ states: “The Westies is a gritty and kinetic crime drama centering on New York City’s infamously violent Irish gang of the same name.
“The series is set in the early 1980s when the construction of the Jacob Javits Convention Center on the Westies’ home turf in Hell’s Kitchen promises a financial windfall.
“Despite being outnumbered fifty-to-one by the Five Families of the Italian Mafia, the Westies’ legendary brutality and cunning have given them the leverage necessary to share the spoils through a fragile détente.
“But internal conflict between the brash younger generation and the old-school leadership threatens to set a match to this powder keg, which will sweep the Westies into the FBI’s ever-deepening investigation into the Italian mafia.”
The Westies premiered on 12th July 2026 exclusively on MGM+ in the UK.