Several new casting notices you should be aware of…
1 – Angela Bassett has joined that cast of Millennium Films’ thriller Survivor, co-starring alongside Milla Jovovich, Emma Thompson, and Pierce Brosnan, in the James McTeigue-directed project, from a script penned by Bill Shelby, to be produced by Charles Winkler and Irwin Winkler.
The film follows an American embassy employee in London, whose job is to prevent terrorists from entering the USA, framed for crimes she didn’t commit, and who has to go on the run as she tries to clear her name, while also, by the way, stopping a planned New York City terrorist attack set for New Year’s Eve.
The woman will be played by (sorry, not Angela Basset) Milla Jovovich.
No word on Bassett’s role yet.
But this is such an overdone premise. However, I like the cast.
2 – Your boy T.I. has booked a multiple-episode recurring role on the upcoming third season of Showtime’s Don Cheadle series, House Of Lies.
T.I. will play a character named Lukas, who co-owns a clothing company (along with Mekhi Phifer, whose casting was previously announced), and who hires Marty (Don Cheadle) to help expand the business.
Production on season three is currently underway, for a January 2014 premiere.
3 – Danny Glover has signed up for a supporting role in the coming-of-age dramedy, Scout, which stars India Ennenga.
Scout follows a rebellious teen (Ennenga) who convinces a suicidal young man to go on a road trip with her across Texas, to find her little sister who’s been taken from her great-grandmother’s home.
Nikki Reed, Ellen Burstyn, James Frecheville, Onata Aprile and Shelley Hennig will also star in a film to be directed by Laurie Weltz from her own script.
Glover will play a Texas Ranger.
Beverley A. Gordon, Nic Emiliani, and Dwjuan Fox are all producers.
Production is set for LA and NYC this fall.
4 – Ashley Madekwe of Revenge fames, has landed a role in WGN’s first original scripted series, Salem, from Brannon Braga, Adam Simon and Fox21.
Salem is set in the 17th century, in Massachusetts, and will focus on the infamous Salem witch trials (subject matter that will also be tackled in the upcoming 3rd season of American Horror Story).
Madekwe will play Tituba, the slave belonging to Salem’s most powerful witch, Mary Sibley. Tituba is described as “exotic and mysterious” and was one of the first to be accused of practicing witchcraft during the Salem witch trials which took place in 1692.
Witches are suddenly in vogue on TV.
5 – Amazon Studios is launching another pilot, this one from The X Files creator Chris Carter, titled The After, which Leverage‘s Aldis Hodge has been cast in. He joins Jamie Kennedy, and Adrian Pasdar as the first actors cast in what is said to be an apocalyptic thriller, produced by Georgeville TV.
No more on the premise is public yet. But Hodge has signed up to play an escaped convict who claims innocence.
Meanwhile, Kennedy will play a professional clown, and Pasdar, a successful Beverly Hills businessman.
6 – And finally, David Ajala has joined the cast of ABC’s 13-episode drama series, The Black Box, from Amy Holden Jones, which centers on a world-renowned neuroscientist struggling with mental illness, despite seeming to be on-top of the world on the surface; a secret (amongst others) she keeps from her family, and soon-to-be husband.
Simon Curtis is directing.
Ajala joins Ditch Davey, Ali Wong, Tasso Feldman and Kelly Reilly (as the starring character) to make up the limited series’ core cast.
Ajala will play a character named Will Van Renseller, a professional chef.
The limited series hails from L Word creator Ilene Chaiken and director Bryan Singer.