Series Description

Boardwalk Empire is a 60 minute crime drama series on HBO about the treasurer of Atlantic City, New Jersey named "Nucky" Thompson during the 1920s prohibition era who draws the attention of federal agents due to his connections with both politicians and mobsters. He lives a lifestyle far beyond what his apparent salary should be able to support. While it's fairly obvious that he must be involved in bootleging and/or other illegal activities, his connections make it a nearly impossible task for agents to bring him to justice.

Boardwalk Empire Cast

Steve Buscemi .... Enoch "Nucky" Thompson
Michael Pitt .... James "Jimmy" Edison Darmody
Michael Shannon .... Agent Nelson Van Alden
Kelly Macdonald .... Margaret Schroeder
Shea Whigham .... Elias "Eli" Thompson
Aleksa Palladino .... Angela Darmody
Michael Stuhlbarg .... Arnold Rothstein
Stephen Graham .... Al Capone
Vincent Piazza .... Lucky Luciano
Paz de la Huerta .... Lucy Danziger
Michael Kenneth Williams .... Chalky White
Anthony Laciura .... Eddie Kessler
Paul Sparks .... Mickey Doyle
Dabney Coleman .... Commodore Louis Kaestner
Gretchen Mol .... Gillian Darmody
Josie Gallina .... Emily Schroeder
Lucy Gallina .... Emily Schroeder
Rory McTigue .... Teddy Schroeder
Declan McTigue .... Teddy Schroeder
Brady Noon .... Tommy Darmody
Connor Noon .... Tommy Darmody
Robert Clohessy .... Ward Boss Neary
Jack Huston .... Richard Harrow
Victor Verhaeghe .... Ward Boss Fleming
Anatol Yusef .... Meyer Lansky
Adam Mucci .... Deputy Halloran
William Hill .... Ward Boss O'Neill
Edward McGinty .... Ward Boss Boyd
Kevin O'Rourke .... Edward Bader

Boardwalk Empire Trivia:

The Nucky Thompson character on Boardwalk Empire was inspired by the real life Nucky Johnson who looked more like Tony Soprano on "The Sopranos" than like Steve Buscemi who plays Nucky on Boardwalk Empire. Series creator Terence Winter was a writer on The Sopranos and while he based Nucky on a real life person, he didn't want him to look almost exactly like Tony Soprano. The real life Nucky was also the undisputed boss of the Republican political machine in control of Atlantic City and of Atlantic County. While Nucky is based on a real life person, many of the people surrounding him on the show are totally fictional. Lots of the details about Nucky's life are also fiction used for dramatic effect. The writers did strive however to keep the actions of the real life mobsters like Al Capone, Lucky Luciano and others as true to their real life actions as possible.

Gretchen Mol (Gillian Darmody) plays the mother of Michael Pitt's character (James "Jimmy" Darmody) on Boardwalk Empire. On the show she is said to have given birth to her son at the young age of only 13-years-old! In real life though, Gretchen is only nine years older than Michael.

Executive producer and pilot director Martin Scorsesehe was so insistent that the set depicting 1920s Atlantic City be accurate, he even demanded that the wooden planks on the boardwalk be reproduced to the same exact width as the ones of the 1920s. The set itself is located in Brooklyn, New York.