Thursday, July 11, 2019

Casting News - Billie Lourd, Angelica Ross and Matthew Morrison to Star in 'American Horror Story: 1984'; Plus 4 More Updates!

Casting News - July 11, 2019

The CW's Arrow & Legends of Tomorrow; Disney+'s Diary of a Female President; FX's American Horror Story: 1984; and Netflix's Untitled Mindy Kaling Comedy.




DISNEY+'s DIARY OF A FEMALE PRESIDENT
  • Gina Rodriguez, Tess Romero, Charlie Bushnell, Selenis Leyva and Michael Weaver will star in the upcoming comedy created by Ilana Peña. Rodriguez was originally an executive producer on the comedy but will now recur and direct the premiere. She is currently finishing her starring role on The CW's Jane the Virgin after five seasons. Romero and Bushnell are relative newcomers. Leyva has appeared in all seven seasons of Netflix's Orange Is the New Black. Weaver has recurred on HBO's Here and Now and ABC's The Real O'Neals.
  • Romero will play Elena, a 12-year-old Cuban-American who navigates the ups and downs of middle school and begins her journey to become the future President of the United States. Unabashed, semi-dweeby, ultra-observant and with a strong point of view, she walks through the world with purpose and confidence.
  • Bushnell will play Bobby, Elena's sweet-faced but mischievous older brother.
  • Leyva will play Gabi, Elena and Bobby's intelligent and loving mother.
  • Weaver will play Sam, a lawyer at Gabi's firm who is in the beginnings of a relationship with her.
  • Rodriguez will recur as the adult Elena, who is currently on the presidential campaign trail.
FX's AMERICAN HORROR STORY: 1984
  • Production has begun today on the anthology series' upcoming ninth season. Series creator Ryan Murphy has confirmed the actors set to appear as series regulars - Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd, Cody Fern, Leslie Grossman, Gus Kenworthy, Angelica Ross, DeRon Horton, Zach Villa, John Carroll Lynch and Matthew Morrison.
  • Roberts, Lourd, Fern, Grossman and Lynch have starred in previous installments of the anthology. Roberts appeared in the Coven, Freak Show and Apocalypse seasons. Lourd and Grossman starred in Cult and Apocalypse. Fern joined in Apocalypse. Lynch has recurred on Freak Show, Hotel and Cult.
  • Kenworthy, Ross, Horton, Villa and Morrison are newcomers to the franchise. Kenworthy is a freestyle skier who competed in the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics. Ross starred for two seasons in FX's Pose, which was also co-created by Murphy. Horton currently stars in Netflix's Dear White People, which returns for its third season in August. Villa has previously recurred on Showtime's Shameless and Syfy's The Expanse. Morrison starred for all six seasons of FOX's Glee, also co-created by Murphy.
THE CW's ARROW
  • Katherine McNamara has been promoted to series regular for the drama's upcoming eighth and final season. She joined the drama as recurring during its seventh season - appearing in ten episodes overall. She previously starred for three seasons in Freeform's Shadowhunters.
  • She plays Mia Smoak, the daughter of Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) and Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards).
THE CW's LEGENDS OF TOMORROW
  • Olivia Swann has been promoted to series regular for the drama's upcoming fifth season. She previously appeared in a recurring role on the fourth season - appearing in two episodes.
  • She plays Astra Logue, who was sent to Hell by John Constantine (Matt Ryan) when she was only a child. Now an adult who was raised around demons and the worst souls in history, she is determined to rise to the top of Hell's food chain, even if it means shedding the last piece of her humanity.
NETFLIX's UNTITLED MINDY KALING COMEDY
  • Poorna Jagannathan will co-star on the upcoming comedy created by Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher. She previously starred in the HBO limited series The Night Of. She has recently recurred on AMC's Better Call Saul, Hulu's Ramy, HBO's Big Little Lies and Hulu's The Act.
  • She will play Nalini, Devi's (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) mother.