TV Casting: THE WALKING DEAD, Frank Langella in THE AMERICANS

The Walking Dead, The Americans, and other TV productions have made recent TV show casting, TV movie casting, and TV directing news. These shows and movies air on AMC and FX.

Humans (AMC)

William Hurt (A History Of Violence, Damages) is set for a lead role in Humans…Hurt will play George Millican, a widower who has formed a close relationship

Red Band Society (Fox)

Jes Macallan has been cast in an arc on Fox’s coming-of age-drama series Red Band Society…Macallan…will play Ashley Cole, Hunter’s (Daren Kagasoff) sister.

Drama Pilot 20th Century Fox TV

Archie Panjabi…signing a development/holding deal with 20th Century Fox TV to headline a drama pilot for the studio in the spring for fall 2015 consideration

Ken Jeong Made Me Do It (MTV)

Marshall Allman has landed the co-lead opposite Ken Jeong in MTV’s comedy pilot presentation Ken Jeong Made Me Do It. Also cast in the project, directed by Peter Segal, are Bonnie Dennison and Justin Hires.

Written/executive produced by Andy St. Clair and Paul O’Toole, Ken Jeong Made Me Do It centers on 22-year-old everyman Andy (Allman), who, after catching his girlfriend cheating, accidentally rear-ends Jeong’s fancy car. Taking pity on Andy, Jeong, playing himself, takes it upon himself to teach him how to man up.

Dennison…will play Molly, Andy’s best friend and who just likes being one of the guys but there is definitely some unexplored chemistry between them. Hires will play Paul, Andy and Molly’s other best friend who is a ball of manic energy with no filter, a flaky goofball but completely dedicated to his job as preschool teacher.

Codes Of Conduct (HBO)

Devon Terrell has landed the lead in Codes Of Conduct, HBO’s drama pilot from Steve McQueen…The project — a provocative exploration of a young black man’s experience entering New York high society – was put on a fast-track development last October when McQueen started exploring casting choices for the lead, Beverly Snow.

McQueen…co-wrote and…direct[ed] the pilot.

South Of Hell

Mena Suvari is finalizing a deal to play the lead in WE tv‘s second original scripted series, thriller drama South Of Hell…A supernatural thriller set in South Carolina, South Of Hell focuses on Maria Abascal (Suvari), a stunning demon-hunter-for-hire whose power stems from within. Like those she hunts, Maria is divided within herself, struggling with her own demon, Abigail, who resides inside of her, feeding on the evil Maria exorcises from others. Maria and Abigail share a soul and a destiny, but as Maria desperately tries to overtake Abigail, she will discover how far Abigail will go to remain a part of her.

The premiere episode of South Of Hell will be directed by [Eli Roth] from a script by Matt Lambert.

The Walking Dead (AMC)

Alexandra Breckenridge (American Horror Story) has landed a recurring role on Season 5 of AMC’s The Walking Dead. [The character will be named Samantha]. [Breckenridge] has an option to become a regular on the zombie drama…[From the casting call for ‘Samantha’:] Female, early to late 30s. Attractive, strong, smart, charming and articulate, she also has a vulnerable side. She’s a mother with a bohemian spirit, and a talented artist

The Walking Dead producers sometimes use fake characters names to disguise the real identity of characters from the graphic novel that are joining the series, so it is unclear whether Breckenridge’s heroine will still be named Samantha when she makes her debut on the show later this season.

Life In Shadows

Bob Cooper’s Landscape Entertainment is partnering with bestselling author Casey Sherman to develop a one-hour scripted drama series. Life In Shadows follows the lives of three teenagers and their mother who enter the witness protection program after their mafioso father/husband rats out the mob to the FBI and awaits trial in prison.

Shadowland (NBC)

David S. Goyer has set up another genre project at the network, an event series based on the 1980 dark fantasy novel Shadowland by Peter Straub. The book, a World Fantasy Award nominee, centers on two young boys, Tom Flanagan and Del Nightingale. They spend a summer with Del’s uncle Coleman, one of the foremost magicians in the world, who may actually be a sorcerer.

Goyer will co-write the adaptation with BAFTA-winning British writer Jack Thorne

The Americans (FX)

Frank Langella has been tapped for a recurring role on the third season of FX’s Cold War drama The Americans. Langella will play Gabriel, Philip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth’s (Keri Russell) former KGB handler who comes out of retirement to take back responsibility for overseeing these two KGB operatives from their previous handler, Claudia (Margo Martindale).

The Pro (NBC)

The comedy centers on a worldly, adventurous, and newly sober narcissist — a role written for [Rob Lowe] — whose decision to become a devoted father happens when his son and daughter are already teenagers. He’s back in his hometown making amends to his kids, his ex-wife, her second ex-husband and their younger son, all of whom have mixed feelings about his newfound parental enthusiasm.

Strange Angel (AMC)

Screenwriter Mark Heyman (Skeleton Twins, Black Swan) is set to write Strange Angel, a drama project for AMC…Based on George Pendle’s book Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life Of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside, the drama tells the story of Jack Parsons, a brilliant rocket scientist and co-founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. While a pioneer in research that had only recently been dreamed up in science fiction, his bright future gave way to ruin as Parsons headed down another, darker path into the occult community of mid-century Los Angeles.

The Hot Zone (Fox)

As the Ebola virus continues to dominate the headlines, producer Lynda Obst and director-producer Ridley Scott are bringing the deadly pathogen to the small screen with a limited series for Fox TV Studios based on Richard Preston’s 1994 nonfiction best-seller The Hot Zone.

Preston is writing a piece for next week’s New Yorker magazine (The Hot Zone started out as an 1992 article in the New Yorker), chronicling the current outbreak. Obst and Scott…are in conversations to option Preston’s latest article and would work it into the series, which spans the history of the disease, including a 1989 incident in which primates at a quarantine facility in Virginia became infected with a mutated version of Ebola.

Obst and Scott have the inside track on the new article because Preston has been working with the pair for the past year on the limited series. Scott…would potentially direct at least the first episode…Once the disease’s latest twist is incorporated into the series’ script, Obst and Scott will take it out to networks.

Self Promotion (MTV)

Brian Jordan Alvarez, (You Are What I Want), Ben BledsoeDerek Goh (Spirited Away) and Derek Goh (The Brides Of March) have joined the cast of Self Promotion…Alvarez will play Wyatt, one of Katie’s co-workers at Critical Mass, the chic lifestyle website. Bledsoe…plays Josh Welsh, the website’s political editor and Goh…will play Andrew, a recent college grad and “good natured slacker intern.

Nurse Jackie (Showtime)

Jeremy Shamos has been tapped for a major recurring role opposite Edie Falco in the seventh season of Showtime comedy Nurse Jackie. Shamos will play Anders Carlsson, a Norwegian real estate developer who becomes both an ally and antagonist to Jackie (Falco). He’s signed for a minimum of four episodes.

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Source: Deadline