ALBANY

Guess who is playing Cuomo in new Showtime series?

Joseph Spector
Albany Bureau Chief
Actor Michael Imperioli leaves the funeral for James Gandolfini.

ALBANY - For the first time, an actor is playing Andrew Cuomo — and he’s a native New Yorker.

Michael Imperioli, a star in HBO's The Sopranos, is set to play Cuomo in the Showtime series Escape from Dannemora, the network confirmed Thursday.

Imperioli, 51, is a Mount Vernon native and 1983 Brewster High School graduate.

He joins a star cast in the eight-hour series being produced and directed by actor Ben Stiller about the 2015 escape of two inmates from the Clinton Correctional Facility in northern New York.

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The two convicted killers, Richard Matt and David Sweat, were on the loose for three weeks, leading to a massive manhunt through the Adirondack Mountains. Matt was ultimately shot and killed by police, while Sweat was captured.

Prison worker Joyce Mitchell was convicted and sentenced to 2⅓ to seven years for her role in the caper, which included a romantic relationship with Matt and providing the inmates tools to cut through walls and pipes to escape.

Cuomo toured the prison soon after the escape, offering some of the first images that showed how the pair got out — leading to comparisons to The Shawshank Redemption.

Actor Benicio del Toro is playing Matt, and Paul Dano is playing Sweat, according to Varietywhich first reported Imperioli's role.

Patricia Arquette is playing Mitchell, who in real life is being housed in the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Westchester County.

The series is set to air sometime next year.

JSpector@Gannett.com

Joseph Spector is chief of USA TODAY Network's Albany Bureau.