TV Casting: MAMMA DALLASTORTORELLA, THE ADVOCATE, Colin Hanks in LIFE IN PIECES

Mamma Dallastortorella, The Advocate, Life in Pieces, and other TV productions have made recent TV show casting, TV movie casting, and TV directing news. These shows and movies air on HBO, ABC, and CBS.

Telenovela (NBC)

Steve Pink, director of the cult Hot Tub Time Machine feature franchise, has been tapped to helm the pilot episode of NBC’s single-camera comedy series Telenovela starring and executive produced by Eva Longoria.

Telenovela stars the Desperate Housewives alumna as the willful but popular diva Ana Maria, star of Latin America’s most beloved telenovela who strives to stay on top in a world where the drama on-camera is nothing compared to the drama off-camera. Jencarlos Canela and Diana Maria Riva co-star.

Damien (Lifetime)

The Following (Fox)

Megalyn Echikunwoke has joined the cast of Damien, Lifetime’s straight-to-series drama follow-up to 20th Century Fox’s classic horror film The Omen…Echikunwoke…will play Simone Baptiste, a woman who grew up in the shadow of her overachieving sister whose life is thrown into turmoil when tragedy strikes, leading her to question her religious faith. Echikunwoke also just booked a recurring guest star role on Fox’s The Following…in which she plays Penny, a beautiful, troubled, drug user who is Theo’s (Michael Ealy) sister and the one person whom he confides in and knows his secrets.

Breed (TNT)

Aisha Hinds has landed a role opposite Justin Chatwin in TNT pilot Breed, from writer/novelist John Scott Shepherd, director Scott Winant… The supernatural thriller tells the wild and chilling story of a series of brutal murders in the Pacific Northwest and the mysterious race of creatures who may be committing them. Hinds…will play police Captain Dennison, Cooper’s (Chatwin) boss, who warily gives him some leeway to pursue his unusual theories about the recent murders in Tacoma.

The Advocate (ABC)

Michael M. Robin has been tapped to helm the ABC drama pilot The Advocate, from Sheldon Turner and Jennifer Klein’s Vendetta Prods. and Warner Bros TV.

Written by Turner…[the show] centers on a tough, resourceful, type-A businesswoman at the top of her game who has a medical scare, only to be dangerously misdiagnosed, and experiences firsthand the hazards of our healthcare system. Shocking her friends and family, she leaves her career behind, becoming instead a brilliant and relentless advocate for anyone caught in the chaotic and ever-changing maze that is modern medicine.

Life In Pieces (CBS)

Colin Hanks has been cast as a lead in CBS’ single-camera comedy pilot Life In Pieces.

Written on spec by Justin Adler…is about one family as told through the separate stories of its different family members. Hanks plays Greg, the coddled youngest of three siblings who finds himself overwhelmed and unprepared for the birth of his first child.

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Divorce (HBO)

Thomas Haden Church and Molly Shannon are set to co-star opposite Sarah Jessica Parker in HBO‘s comedy pilot Divorce…Also cast in the pilot, directed by Jesse Peretz, is Talia Balsam.

Written/executive produced by British writer-actress Sharon Horgan and Paul Simms, Divorce tells the story of a very, very long divorce. Parker plays Frances, a woman who suddenly begins to reassess her life and her marriage, and finds that making a clean break and a fresh start is harder than she thought. Church is Robert, Frances’ husband who is surprised to learn that his wife’s perspective on their marriage is different from his. Shannon plays Diane, Frances’ high-strung friend who has a successful husband, a beautiful house, and no children. Balsam is Dallas, Frances’ close friend, who has been both widowed and divorced.

Fresh Off The Boat (ABC)

Paul Scheer has landed a recurring role on ABC’s new comedy series Fresh Off The Boat as Mitch, the high-energy, friendly guy who is hired by Mr. Huang to be the host at the steakhouse restaurant. Mitch is a tad shady, full of questionable advice for the Huang boys, and very much distrusted by Mrs. Huang. Scheer appeared in last night’s first two episodes and can be seen throughout the series as his character has a notable story arc.

Warrior (NBC)

Will Yun Lee (Hawaii Five-0, True Blood, Wolverine) has joined the cast NBC’s martial arts drama pilot, Warrior. Written and executive produced by Traveler creator David DiGilio , directed by Phillip Noyce…Lee…will play Susano, a deadly and dangerous martial arts expert who is head of a Japanese crime syndicate where he enjoys considerable power, wealth and respect.

How We Live (NBC)

Lindsay Price, Chris Klein and Jared Gertner have been cast as three of the leads in NBC’s single-camera comedy pilot How We Live, written/executive produced by Steven Cragg and Brian Bradley (Happy Endings)…the project centers on Russell, a blogger, and his wife Holly who move to the suburbs where he begins writing about marriage and the family lives of his suburban friends and neighbors, in the style of an anthropologist who’s stumbled on an undiscovered tribe.

Klein…plays Russell’s best friend Matt, who loves sports and red meat and helps Russell navigate the pitfalls of his new environment. Gertner…plays Matt’s friend Dennis, a sweet, nerdy, emotional guy who likes cooking. Price…plays Dennis’ sweet, quirky and a little scattered wife Claudia.

American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson (FX)

Courtney B. Vance is back on the legal beat with a starring role as defense attorney Johnnie Cochran in FX’s miniseries American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson…Vance will play one of the key players hat delivered that reasonable doubt for Simpson. Probably the most colorful and controversial personality on the “dream team”, he drew criticism for playing heavily the race card in his client’s defense and landed a place in pop culture with catch phrases like “if it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC)

Luke Mitchell (The Tomorrow People) is entering the superhero universe as the latest addition to the cast of Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. He will play charismatic Inhuman Lincoln, who has an important role to play in Skye (Chloe Bennet) understanding the true extent of her transformation.

untitled Suzanne Martin comedy pilot

James Burrows has been tapped to helm the untitled Suzanne Martin comedy pilot for NBC

The untitled multi-camera Suzanne Martin project, from the Hot In Cleveland team of Martin and Hazy Mills, chronicles how things backfire for recent empty-nesters when their children and their parents move back home. Martin wrote the script

Shaq, Inc. (TruTV)

Meryl Hathaway (The Comeback) and Miles Fisher (Psych) have been tapped as female and male leads opposite Shaquille O’Neal on TruTV’s Shaq, Inc. and Matty Cardarople (Selfie), and Carl Anthony Payne (Martin) have also landed roles in the workplace comedy pilot that’s loosely based on the business empire of O’Neal…Hathaway…is Laura, the executive who Shaq calls “L-Train”, the only person at Shaq, Inc hired on her own merit, and Fisher will play Ed, the CEO of Shaq, Inc. Cardarople will play Blake, and Payne is cousin Mike.

Mamma Dallastortorella (HBO)

Paul Fitzgerald, Mary Catherine Garrison and Nico Tortorella (The Following) will co-star opposite Augustus Prew in Mamma Dallastortorella, HBO’s comedy pilot by Enlightened creator Mike White, who also will have a role on the show. Written, directed and executive produced by White, the half-hour project follows a couple, Carrie Cox (Garrison) and Hugh Cox (Fitzgerald), who unwittingly hire a hard-living drag queen, Liberty (Prew), as their live-in nanny. Liberty appears to be an attractive woman with a flirty side — but she’s really a drag queen with an upbeat personality. On a path that leads to jail or prostitution or both, Liberty (also known as Albert) sees a future that will destroy his basically optimistic spirit and re-invents himself to get a job as a nanny to three children of a conservative Texan family.

With her decorating business taking off, perfectionistic Carrie needs a nanny to help with the kids, and it doesn’t occur to Carrie that she’s having a long talk about childrearing with a drag queen. Hugh is an earnest, successful man with political aspirations who is deathly afraid of any hint of scandal. Tortorella plays Liberty’s lowlife boyfriend Jesse, who runs a chop shop and steals high-priced sports cars with Liberty’s help. He’s horrified that his macho friends will find out he’s dating a guy. White plays Liberty’s roommate Tammy, a chain smoker who is always strung out and has no life ambitions.

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Source: Deadline