“Gilded Age” Train Daddy, Morgan Spector, will take on the role of Robert Langdon in a new Dan Brown series, but it is not the first time he has starred in an adaptation. 

The 45-year-old actor has appeared in several literary adaptations since 2013. That year he starred in “Burning Blue,” a film based on the 1992 play by D.M.W. Greer. Spector starred as Will Stephensen, a U.S. Navy fighter pilot. The story centers on an investigation into a gay relationship during the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” era. 

Also in 2013, he appeared in four episodes of HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” as Frank Capone. The five-season series was based on Nelson Johnson’s 2002 nonfiction book “Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City.”

The following year he had a role in the crime movie “The Drop,” based on Dennis Lehane’s 2009 story “Animal Rescue.” It follows a Mafia-related investigation. Spector played Andre in the film. James Gandolfini also starred in what ended up his final movie role before his 2013 death

Spector also appeared in one episode of Netflix’s hit seven-season series “Orange Is the New Black,” created by Jenji Kohan and based on Piper Kerman’s 2010 memoir “Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison.”

In 2017, Spector starred as the lead, Kevin Copeland, in the sci-fi horror series “The Mist.” The show was based on a 1980 novella by Stephen King. 

In 2020, Spector starred as insurance agent and New Deal socialist Herman Johnson in the HBO series “The Plot Against America.” Created by David Simon and Ed Burns, the drama is an adaptation of Philip Roth’s 2004 novel of the same name. 

Morgan Spector stars in a scene from “The Plot Against America.” Photo: Michele K. Short/HBO

Robert Langdon is just the latest literary character in Spector’s increasingly adaptation-heavy career.

The Dan Brown series he will lead was ordered by Netflix before the novel, “The Secret of Secrets,” was even published. His character, Langdon, is a Harvard symbologist and has been the lead in six Dan Brown novels.  

“Morgan is a truly wonderful actor whose work is always filled with intelligence, thoughtfulness, and humanity,” Carlton Cuse, co-creator, showrunner and executive producer of the series alongside Brown, told Tudum. “He’s the perfect fit for Robert Langdon—a brilliant academic whose curiosity, intelligence and intellect are the tools of his trade.”

Spector’s wife, Rebecca Hall, an actor and filmmaker who has appeared in several hits, including “Frost/Nixon,” “The Town,” and “Godzilla vs. Kong,” plays missing scientist Katherine Solomon.

“For the first time ever, Robert Langdon has a serious love interest—and that changes many of the ways he sees the world,” Cuse, who had previously worked on the adaptations “Locke & Key” and “Bates Motel,” said. “It’s an exciting evolution of the character.”

About the writer

S. Lynn has never seen or read anything Dan Brown-related because she always got a religious vibe, which is not her thing. She could be completely wrong about this—feel free to tell her. However, now that Morgan Spector and Rebecca Hall are involved, she is intrigued.