Shea Whigham Says He Is Rewatching “Boardwalk Empire” and Thinks It Should Be Revived as a Movie (Exclusive)
Shea Whigham Says He Is Rewatching “Boardwalk Empire” and Thinks It Should Be Revived as a Movie (Exclusive)
Lexi Lane, Abby SternSun, June 21, 2026 at 12:30 PM UTC
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Shea Whigham in February 2026; Whigham in 'Boardwalk Empire' (2014)Credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic; Collection Christophel / Alamy Stock Photo -
Shea Whigham exclusively told PEOPLE that he is rewatching Boardwalk Empire with one of his kids
He said Boardwalk Empire could be revived as a film
Whigham stars in Apple TV's Sugar season 2 alongside Colin Farrell and Kirby Howell-Baptiste
Shea Whigham is opening up about revisiting Boardwalk Empire.
While at the premiere of Apple TV's Sugarseason 2 at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles on June 17, the actor was asked if there's been any discussions of the possibility of rebooting Boardwalk Empire.
"It's funny. I'm rewatching that with one of my kids a little bit. He's watching it," Whigham, 57, said in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE at the event. On the HBO series, which ran from 2010 to 2014, Whigham played Elias "Eli" Thompson.
He added, "And I got to tell you, the work, when I go back and revisit that, it's exquisite what they did with that show, what we got a chance to do with it. And if anything deserves [a reboot] ... I think you could make a film. I think you could do something deep with it."
Shea Whigham at the premiere of Apple TV+'s 'Sugar' season 2 on June 17, 2026; Whigham in 'Boardwalk Empire' (2010)Credit: Eric Charbonneau/Apple TV via Getty; Hbo/Kobal/Shutterstock
Whigham also shared that he's still kept in touch with his former Boardwalk Empire colleagues, including director and executive producer Tim Van Patten and the show's lead star, Steve Buscemi, who played kingpin Enoch "Nucky" Thompson and ran Atlantic City, N.J., on the period crime drama.
"I saw Buscemi about three weeks ago," Whigham said.
The Death by Lightning star previously spoke with PEOPLE in January about the "deep friendships" he formed on the set of the show.
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He explained that not only is he "very tight" with Buscemi, 68, but he's also close with Michael Shannon, who starred as Nelson Van Alden.
"That was a good one," Whigham said. "These are not just jobs. You walk away with deep friendships because of the work."
Whigham reunited with Shannon, 51, for the Netflix limited series Death by Lightning, based on the true story of Andrew Garfield's presidency and assassination, as well as 2020's The Quarry.
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Now, in the series Sugar, Whigham plays Tom Flyberg. The mystery drama follows private investigator John Sugar (Colin Farrell) and also stars Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Jin Ha, Tony Dalton, Raymond Lee, Sasha Calle and Laura Donnelly.
Sugar season 2 is now airing weekly on Apple TV.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
