Casting News - April 19, 2021
AMC's Ragdoll; Disney+'s Secret Invasion; Hulu's Life & Beth; NBC's Joe Exotic & New Amsterdam; and Spectrum's Joe Pickett.
AMC's Ragdoll; Disney+'s Secret Invasion; Hulu's Life & Beth; NBC's Joe Exotic & New Amsterdam; and Spectrum's Joe Pickett.
AMC's RAGDOLL
- Henry Lloyd-Hughes and Thalissa Teixeira will star opposite Lucy Hale in the upcoming drama created by Freddy Syborn. Lloyd-Hughes has previously recurred on BBC America's Killing Eve and Netflix's The Irregulars. Teixeira stars in ITV's upcoming drama Too Close.
- The drama revolves around the murder of six people whose bodies have been dismembered and sewn into the shape of one grotesque body - nicknamed "The Ragdoll." Assigned to the shocking case are DS Nathan Rose (Lloyd-Hughes), recently reinstated to the London Met; his best friend and boss, DI Emily Baxter (Teixeira); and the unit's new recruit, DC Lake Edmunds (Hale). The killer taunts the police by sending them a list of his next victims, with Rose's name at the very end. With the victims to protect, our heroes soon come under intense public scrutiny.
NBC's JOE EXOTIC
- John Cameron Mitchell will play the title role in the upcoming limited series starring Kate McKinnon - which is also being produced for USA and Peacock. He co-created and starred in the Broadway musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which resulted in a Special Tony Award in 2015. He currently appears in Hulu's Shrill, which returns for its third and final season next month. He has also recurred on HBO's Girls, CBS All Access' The Good Fight and Amazon's Mozart in the Jungle.
- He will play Joe "Exotic" Schreibvogel, the larger-than-life zoo owner in Oklahoma who loses himself in his hatred for Carole Baskin (McKinnon), a big cat activist and sanctuary owner working tirelessly to take down animal abusers.
DISNEY+'s SECRET INVASION
- Olivia Colman is in final negotiations to appear in the upcoming Marvel drama starring Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn. She is currently nominated for an Academy Award for her supporting performance in The Father. She previously won an Academy Award in 2019 for her lead performance in The Favourite. She also starred for two seasons in Netflix's The Crown, two seasons in Amazon's Fleabag and in the AMC limited series The Night Manager - earning Emmy nominations for all three performances.
- No details were immediately announced about the character she will be playing.
SPECTRUM's JOE PICKETT
- David Alan Grier, Julianna Guill, Sharon Lawrence, Mustafa Speaks, Paul Sparks, Skywalker Hughes and Kamryn Pliva will co-star on the upcoming drama starring Michael Dorman. Grier currently stars in Netflix's Dad Stop Embarrassing Me, which just debuted its first season. Guill has recurred on Bravo's Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce and FOX's The Resident. Lawrence has recurred on Showtime's Shameless, OWN's Queen Sugar and AppleTV+'s Home Before Dark. Speaks has recurred on Netflix's Seven Seconds and FXX's Dave. Sparks starred for two seasons in Starz's Sweetbitter and one season in Hulu's Castle Rock. Hughes and Pliva are young newcomers.
- Grier will play Vern, a former gregarious and larger-than-life game warden.
- Guill will play Marybeth Pickett, the wife of Joe Pickett (Dorman) and mother of their two young daughters. Charming and forthright, she is probably the smartest person in all of Saddlestring.
- Lawrence will play Missy, Marybeth's mother.
- Speaks will play Nate, a former Special Ops soldier.
- Sparks will play Wacey, an ex-rodeo cowboy with a slick charm who is about to begin his campaign for Sheriff.
- Hughes and Pliva will play Sheridan and Lucy, respectively, the Pickett children.
HULU's LIFE & BETH
- Michael Rapaport has joined the cast of the upcoming comedy created by and starring Amy Schumer. He currently stars in Netflix's Atypical, which returns for its fourth and final season later this year. He has previously recurred on FX's Justified and TBS' The Guest Book.
- He will play Leonard, Beth's (Schumer) father who's down on his luck.
NBC's NEW AMSTERDAM
- Frances Turner has booked a recurring role on the drama's third season. She previously starred in the fourth and final season of Amazon's The Man in the High Castle. She has also recurred on TV Land's The Exes and FOX's The Gifted.
- She will play Dr. Lyn Malvo, the new Chair of the OB department, who has a "complicated" friendship with Dr. Reynolds (Jocko Sims).