A new Collider "Set Stories" video feature explores how the upcoming series *The Westies* recreates the real-life Irish-American gang that terrorised Hell's Kitchen, New York, during the 1980s. Cast members J.K. Simmons, Tom Brittney and Titus Welliver join co-creator and showrunner Chris Brancato to discuss the challenges of adapting notorious real gangsters for television, including why certain figures were given fictionalised names.

The piece centres on balancing historical accuracy with dramatic licence, as the production team recreates the period setting and atmosphere of 1980s Hell's Kitchen. Brancato, alongside the cast, explains the creative reasoning behind altering names of real criminals depicted in the show, addressing how the series navigates the line between true crime history and scripted storytelling.