The gripping Brooklyn-based mob drama “Gravesend” will return for a bigger and better second season — and its highly anticipated trailer dropped Tuesday.
“Gravesend” follows the life of Benny Zerletta, played by Brooklyn boy William DeMeo, who also serves as the show’s creator, writer and director, as he navigates a life of crime in 1980s Brooklyn while reconciling with his Catholic faith.
The show, which first premiered in April of 2020 on Amazon Prime, also serves as an homage to the community that raised DeMeo, who hails from the show’s namesake nabe.
“It’s Brooklyn through and through,” DeMeo told Brooklyn Paper of the show ahead of season two’s drop. “I mean down to the filming locations. We got Lenny’s Pizzeria on 86th Street, Spumoni Gardens, John’s Deli on Stillwell Avenue. Staples for Brooklyn.”
The second season also takes the characters out of their Brooklyn turf, with DeMeo’s character Benny traveling to Florida for parts of the new installment.
“There’s going to be a Florida element as well as New York in the 80’s,” DeMeo explained. “On one hand you’ll have the beaches, the palm trees, the clubs and on the other — the handball courts, the graffiti walls, the trains rumbling and, of course, the stoops. You’ll get the whole Miami Vice feel, and then you’ll get back into the sort of hardcore Brooklyn streets everyone knows and loves.”
Joining DeMeo this season is an incredible cast including legendary actors Chazz Palminteri, Andrew “Dice” Clay, Armand Assante, Fran Drescher, Martin Kove, William Forsythe, Sofia Milos, Mario Cantone, Gina Gershon, Vincent Pastore, Tony Darrow, Leo Rossi, Chuck Zito, Paul Ben Victor, Louis Lombardi and Chris Tardio, as well as Brooklynites Cristian DeMeo, Michele Frantzeskos, Sid Rosenberg, Vic Dibitetto, Tommie Romola, Paulie Malignaggi, Joseph D’Onofrio, Garry Pastore, and Peter Gaudio.
“We feel like we have the expendables cast of the mafia movies,” said DeMeo of the heavy-hitting cast. “It’s a really great cast. We put together something magical. I truly believe that it’s going to be something [and] that we are going to be taking the world by a storm.”
All-star cast aside, DeMeo is more than familiar with what it takes to deliver a powerful performance. The actor is best known for his roles in other mobster flicks like “Gotti,” “Back in the Day” and “The Sopranos.”
Fans will also be thrilled to see that season two of “Gravesend” comes with even more episodes.
“It’s a full season,” DeMeo said, adding that viewers will also be thrilled by the season’s awesome musical soundtrack. “The first season was just four episodes, it was more of a mini-series, but because of everyone’s support, we’ve got a lot more content coming – and a lot more episodes to shoot.”
DeMeo is enthusiastic about the fans’ response to the new season and can’t wait for folks to see the new trailer. The show is expected to premier sometime this spring and DeMeo says the response and anticipation from fans is already mounting.
“We have a fanbase that is really really loyal to us, that we appreciate and that’s been messaging us nonstop for when there is going to be more episodes,” the actor said. “And we are excited that it is going to be coming out soon. I think the big thing is that I think we made something that people can really appreciate, and [it] takes you back to a time that I think people miss, and I think that there is a thirst for this.”
The season two trailer can be viewed below.
