John Slattery Cast as Lead in Fox Pilot “neXT”

John Slattery has been cast in Fox’s upcoming drama pilot, neXT.

Best known for his role as Roger Sterling on AMC’s Mad Men, for which he received four Emmy nominations for best-supporting actor in a drama, has been cast in the lead role in the AI thriller from 20th Century Fox TV.

The pilot is described as a fact-based thriller grounded in the latest AI research. It features a brilliant but paranoid former tech CEO (Slattery) who joins a Homeland Cybersecurity Agent (Fernanda Andrade) and her team to stop the world’s first artificial intelligence crisis: the emergence of a rogue AI with the ability to continuously improve itself.

Slattery joins the previously announced Eve Harlowe, Aaron Moten, Gerardo Celasco and Michael Mosley.

The pilot was penned by Manny Coto and will be directed by John Requa and Glenn Ficarra. This is Slattery’s first pilot since his seven-year stint on Mad Men.