Antony Starr's next role swaps gun and badge for 'pointing and shouting'

Antony Starr says his next role on American TV screens won't take as much of a physical toll on him - and he's fine with that.

The Outrageous Fortune star is coming to the end of his run on Banshee, the violent Cinemax show that screens on Soho in New Zealand.

After four seasons in the grueling role, Starr says it's time for a change - and that's what he's getting with American Gothic.

"Banshee's been a great introduction (to America)," says Starr, who plays Lucas Hood, a criminal posing as a sheriff in a crooked Pennsylvanian town, on the ultra-violent show.

"I'd come from doing a show in Australia that shall remain nameless and that was awful. I got picked out of that and stuck into a lead role on an American show (and) as far as I'm concerned it's been fantastic.

"It's been a hell of a ride. I've learned a lot, and I'm ready to take the next step."

That next step was confirmed last week: a role on American Gothic, a new CBS murder mystery that he begins filming in Toronto in February.

After four punishing seasons on Banshee, the last of which begins airing in January in the US, Starr says he's glad to take on a role with fewer physical requirements.

"I do a lot more pointing and shouting, which is fine by me," says Starr.

Deadline reports the show "centres on a prominent Boston family that is attempting to redefine itself in the wake of a chilling discovery that links their recently deceased patriarch to a string of murders spanning decades - amid the mounting suspicion that one of them may have been his accomplice".

Starr plays Garrett, the eldest son in the family who fled the city years before only to return after this father's death.

He told the Herald he'd had offers "floating about" since Banshee wrapped in August, but American Gothic felt like the logical choice.

"From my perspective it's about what felt like creatively a good next step and American Gothic has a really fantastic creative team on it, the material is great, so I'll get into that."

American Gothic is due to start screening towards the end of 2016. The fourth season of Banshee is scheduled to air on Soho in April.

- nzherald.co.nz