With Forster at the helm—making his TV debut—and the script by Ben Watkins (Burn Notice), expectations have been high from the start. “The actors circle is very small and it got around that this is this year’s hottest pilot script,” Royo said. “Everyone wanted in.” Royo told us he was drawn to the project because the character he plays, Mayor Robert “Bobo” Boston, is such a great departure from Bubbles, the heroin addict-turned-informant he played with such finesse on The Wire. “I describe this character as Rudolph Giuliani meets Ralph Lauren placed in the P. Diddy video ‘Can’t Stop Wont Stop.’ He’s a hungry visionary who talks like he has sex—’fast and to the point!’” (He’s got six kids with three ex-wives.) Bobo is the best friend of powerful Judge Harris Pernell (Perlman), a law-bending man with a high-end call girl on the side who has a religious awakening. Or as Royo puts it, “It’s not American f*#@ing’ Idol, but it wouldn’t hurt if ten million people watched Hand of God and loved it.” Pamela Miller / Website & Grants Manager
