Janet McTeer Leads The Cops Of 'Battle Creek'

Network television has landed a talented, high caliber, regal English actress as one of the stars of CBS' Battle Creek. Janet McTeer plays Commander Guziewicz, and you may know her work already. She's had impressive roles in various movies, shows, and miniseries, but her body of work has been equal parts interesting and unassuming, and the roles she has chosen have not always been central. So seeing her as one of the stars of Battle Creek is a welcome surprise.

In the new CBS buddy cop dramedy procedural, McTeer's Commander Guziewicz is the boss of Dean Winters' Det. Russ Agnew in the small Michigan-based precinct. Dean Winters scored a role that was practically tailor-made for him – as a rough neck cop with old fashioned views and behaviors, while Josh Duhamel plays the polished and suave FBI agent named Milton Chamberlin who sets up shop in Battle Creek's police station and enlists Det. Agnew as his partner. The two men, who are complete opposites, work together solving crimes, getting under each other's skin, and predictably making us giggle in the process.

While these two law enforcement fellas are off bickering and trying to clean up those mean city streets, Commander Guziewicz will be the one who keeps their antics in line. In order to master that role, you need a distinct blend of confidence, lack of time available for tolerating nonsense, and general badass-ery that only someone like McTeer could bring to the table.

McTeer's roles include shows and movies like The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard, Sense & Sensibility, Damages, Parade's End, The White Queen, and Albert Nobbs, for which she earned Golden Globe and Oscar nominations in 2011 for her performance as Hubert Page. She was also the mildly menacing narrator of Maleficent.

Anyone who can narrate a film has the unique ability to command the attention of all who are in their general vicinity. They have a calming yet ominous presence that can influence the behavior of others around them. Something tells me McTeer's powerful prowess will be the key to keeping Battle Creek's two crime-fighting bros in line. This will no doubt lead to other awesome roles for her, and I cannot wait to see more of her on our big and small screens alike.

Images: Robert Voets/CBS; Giphy