‘Tyrant’: First Look at Chris Noth as Bassam’s American Military Advisor

Ileane Rudolph June 15, 2016, 8:00 am

Chris Noth as General Cogswell, Moran Atias as Leila Al-Fayeed in Tyrant - 'The Dead and the Living' — Kata Vermes/FX

TYRANT -- "The Dead and the Living" -- Episode 303 -- Pictured: (l-r) Chris Noth as General Cogswell, Moran Atias as Leila Al-Fayeed. CR: Kata Vermes/FX

Chris Noth trades in The Good Wife’s Illinois governor’s mansion for a Middle Eastern palace in his new role on Season 3 of FX’s Tyrant. The actor joins the thriller as American general William Cogswell, who’s come to the rebel-plagued fictional country of Abuddin to advise the new president, former L.A. pediatrician Bassam Al-Fayeed (Adam Rayner), on military matters. “He’s also there,” executive producer Christopher Keyser says, “to extend American influence in the region.”

The unhappily married general could find some solace with Leila Al-Fayeed (Moran Attias), the wife of Bassam’s injured brother, Jamal (Ashraf Barhom), the former ruler of Abuddin. “Cogswell knows the [former] first lady and her complicated husband well from a previous tour in the country,” Keyser reveals. “They have a profound respect for each other and as they partner to change Abuddin, their respect could, in a very dangerous way for both of them, lead to something more.”

Keyser adds that Noth is the ideal man for the job. “We were looking to cast a powerful leading man, every bit the match for Leila, who, like him, is competent, devious and ambitious,” he says. “Chris was always at the top of our list.”

Tyrant, Season Premiere, Wednesday, July 6, 19/9c, FX.