Bright lights of Vegas highlighted in gun-slinging show
RIDING down the Las Vegas Strip on horseback, Dennis Quaid looks every inch the lawman.
He gets plenty of time in the saddle as rodeo cowboy turned sheriff in the new series Vegas, airing on Channel 10.
It's The Big Easy actor's first leading role in a TV drama and his first regular small-screen appearance since the 2003 documentary series Freedom: A History of Us.
Vegas - Ten - Sunday at 9.30pm
Set in the early 1960s, Vegas is based on the true story of Ralph Lamb (Quaid), who must try to bring order to the emerging gambling and entertainment mecca.
"It's a real period piece," said Carrie-Anne Moss, who stars opposite Quaid.
"The sets are amazing. For the wardrobe they have been getting all this real vintage stuff. You can't just run to the store down the street if you need something. You need to get the real thing.
"The wardrobe is stellar if you ask me."
Her character's glamorous curls, red lips and vintage dresses are a far cry from the skin-tight bodysuit Moss famously wore in The Matrix.
She plays ambitious assistant district attorney Katherine O'Connell, a childhood friend of Lamb who also wants to preserve justice in the desert town.
"He's a pleasure to work with," she said.
"Dennis is such a charismatic actor.
"When they call 'action' he just comes into this role with ease. It's really a pleasure to act across from that."
The show's antagonist, Chicago mobster Vincent Savino, is played by The Shield star Michael Chiklis.
Savino sets up shop on The Strip as he aims to get his piece of Las Vegas's growing gambling pie.
His ambitions are hampered by Lamb and O'Connell.
"She's very against the mob and she really wants to figure that out, but she's also a woman in the '60s who's contained a little bit," Moss said.
Shot in LA and in a specially-built town in New Mexico, the series also stars Terra Nova's Jason O'Mara.
