Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Casting News - Melanie Griffith to Appear on 'SMILF'; 'Shameless' Adds Bob Saget and Luis Guzmán; Plus 4 More Updates!

Casting News - September 11, 2018

BET's American Soul; Epix's Godfather of Harlem; FOX's Gotham & Star; and Showtime's Shameless & SMILF.





SHOWTIME's SMILF
  • Melanie Griffith, Sherie Rene Scott, Claudia O'Doherty and Dan Aid have landed recurring roles on the comedy's upcoming second season.
  • Griffith (Working Girl) will play Enid, the free-spirited mother of Nelson (Samara Weaving). Married her whole adult life, she has embarked on a new chapter of self-exploration. She also has a codependent, micro-managing relationship with her two daughters.
  • Scott (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) will play Jackie, Bridgette's (Frankie Shaw) aunt and Tutu's (Rosie O'Donnell) sister. She tries to play peacemaker between them but usually ends up with hurt feelings herself.
  • O'Doherty (Love) will play Nelson's cynical sister who is simultaneously disapproving and a little jealous of Nelson's glossy lifestyle.
  • Aid will play Hank, a high-school classmate of Bridgette's who is now a tattoo artist. His laid-back attitude makes him attractive to Bridgette.
SHOWTIME's SHAMELESS
  • Jess Gabor and Luis Guzmán have booked recurring roles on the dramedy's ninth season. Furthermore, Bob Saget is set for a guest-starring role.
  • Gabor (The Twin) will play Kelly Keefe, the tough-as-nails daughter of an Army office and West Point alumnus. She takes over Carl's (Ethan Cutkosky) life.
  • Guzmán will play Mikey O'Shea, Frank's (William H. Macy) match, a fellow lush and contender in an ad campaign competition to find the new face of Hobo Loco, a cheap liquor aimed at fraternities and alcoholics.
  • Saget will play Father D'Amico, a priest Kev (Steve Howey) and V (Shanola Hampton) have to answer to when they run into show-and-tell trouble with the nuns at their twins' local Catholic pre-school.
BET's AMERICAN SOUL
  • Jason Dirden, Iantha Richardson, Christopher Jefferson, Katlyn Nichol and Jelani Winston will co-star on the upcoming drama starring Sinqua Walls.
  • Dirden will play Gerald Aims, an established gangster and club owner who hasn't lost the hustle. He becomes Don Cornelius' (Walls) close associate - perhaps his only friend - introducing Don to the decadent world of Los Angeles.
  • Richardson will play Tessa Lauren, the fearless dance coordinator for Soul Train.
  • Jefferson will play Julius "JT" Tucker, a natural-born music producer who can play everything from Bootsie to Bach, and holds his own in rising music trio with Simone and Kendall. But his complicated home life may threaten his musical aspirations.
  • Nichol will play Simone Clarke, an enormously talented, ambitious and wide-eyed dream-chaser who's bound and determined to find fame in the world of music. She's the driving force in music trio, Encore. Luckily, this young star has everything it takes to make her dreams reality, but may not be ready for the heavy price of success.
  • Winston will play Kendall Clarke, Simone's brother. Growing up as the lone son of military man, he is a teenaged dad toeing the line between being a player and the responsibilities of adulthood. A true talent, with mad dancing skills and a powerful voice, he finds himself longing for success but growing jealous of Simone as she gets everything he wants.
EPIX's GODFATHER OF HARLEM
  • Vincent D'Onofrio has joined the cast of the upcoming drama starring Forest Whitaker. He starred for ten seasons in the NBC/USA drama Law & Order: Criminal Minds. He next returns as a series regular for the upcoming third season of Netflix's Daredevil.
  • He will play Vincent "Chin" Gigante, a former professional boxer who is considered dimwitted and who works his way from enforcer/hitman to top boss of the Genovese crime family. He feigns a low IQ and even insanity to confound his rivals and avoid prosecution, but it's all a cover for a razor-sharp criminal mind. He's "new generation" Mafia, entirely comfortable with peddling drugs. Like his nemesis Bumpy Johnson (Whitaker), his Achilles heel is his troubled, rebellious young daughter.
FOX's STAR
  • Terrence J and Lyndie Greenwood have been cast in recurring roles on the drama's upcoming third season. J previously recurred on BET's Hit the Floor. Greenwood starred for three seasons in FOX's Sleepy Hollow.
  • J will play Ryan French, a celebrity host who has a big following but he wants to use his platform to effect social change.
  • Greenwood will play Megan Jetter, stunning and sophisticated, friendly yet fearless, she is a lawyer who just set up her own firm back in town. After a failed marriage, there is a stiffness beneath her warmth.
FOX's GOTHAM
  • Shane West is set for a recurring role on the drama's upcoming fifth and final season. He starred for three seasons in NBC's ER, four seasons in The CW's Nikita and three seasons in WGN America's Salem.
  • He will play Eduardo Dorrance, an old army buddy of Jim Gordon's (Ben McKenzie). Having lost touch with Jim after the war, he returns to Gotham years later, leading a team of elite soldiers with the goal of helping Gordon restore order to No Man's Land. But as the scales fall from Gordon's eyes, he realizes Dorrance's true intentions in Gotham are much darker and more evil than he could he could have believed.