Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

Actor Adam Baldwin (Chuck) will be joining up with his former Firefly co-star, Nathan Fillion, on the latter’s ABC hit series Castle, playing Ethan Slaughter, a rough and tumble cop from the city’s gang unit who lands a case that Castle is desperate to follow. Along the way, Slaughter shows Castle a dirtier side of police work that forces Castle to reconsider what he’s willing to do to close a case. As the season nears its cliffhanging conclusion, expect this new alliance to place Castle in the line of fire like never before. (William Keck at TV Guide)

Actress Tess Harper (Breaking Bad) will guest star in an upcoming episode of Revenge, playing Carol Miller, a sympathetic former corporate secretary who has spent the last 15 years living a quiet life on a remote farm outside Madison, WI. There is more to Carol than meets the eye, though, and she shows her tough side as her complicated past is uncovered. (Kate Stanhope at TV Guide)

Actor John de Lancie (Star Trek) will appear in an upcoming episode of The Secret Circle, playing Royce Armstrong, the powerful, yet recluse grandfather of Jake (Chris Zylka). Royce comes out of hiding to reveal disturbing conspiracy theories about the events of 16 years ago and how the present-day circle is involved. (Natalie Abrams at TV Guide)

Actor David Zayas (Dexter) will guest star in an upcoming episode of Grimm, playing Sal Burrel, a monstrous troll-like creature known as a Hasslich. The dangerous Sal, who is a city building inspector heading up a racketeering scheme, runs into a problem when the beaver-eqsue Eisbiber community defies his demands for a cut of their earnings. (Megan Masters at TV Line)

Actress Jessica Lange and actor Zachary Quinto are the first two cast members – who will be series regulars – who will appear in the next new season of American Horror Story. Quinto will play a brand new character next season; in fact, it’s been revealed he will play one of two male leads and the nemesis to Lange’s character, who will be at the center of the Season 2 storyline. The second season will also be set at an East Coast institution. There are several other roles being cast, including the male co-lead opposite Quinto. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Peter Cambor will be back as Nate Getz, the one-time resident operational psychologist, on NCIS: Los Angeles in an early April episode. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actor Matt Lauria (Friday Night Lights) has joined the cast of the ABC period drama called Gilded Lilys where he will play Charlie, the dashing, self-aware nephew of a wealthy millionaire and the boyfriend of Violet (Sarah Bolger from The Tudors). The pilot will be set in 1895 and will center on a vicious rivalry and a scandalous secret unfolding against the backdrop of the opening of New York’s first luxury hotel. (Michael Ausiello at TV Line)

Actress Amber Stevens (Greek) has landed the lead role in drama pilot called Joey Dakota at The CW. The pilot is based on the Israeli format Danny Hollywood, the romantic-time-travel-musical that will center on Maya (Stevens), a documentary filmmaker who travels back in time to the 1990s where she meets and falls in love with the rock star subject of her film. When she unexpectedly returns to present day, she must find her way back to the past to reunite with her love and prevent his untimely death. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actress Sara Rue (Less Than Perfect and Popular) has joined the cast of the ABC comedy pilot called Malibu Country that is set to star singer-actress Reba McEntire. The pilot centers on Reba Gallagher (McEntire) who, after her “good ol boy” rock star husband cheats on her and burns through most of their money, divorces him and moves her family from Nashville to the only asset she has left — a little house in Malibu. Rue will play Kim, Reba’s upbeat new neighbor who is a share-too-much, hug-too-freely, trophy wife. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Irish actress Ruth Bradley has been cast in the lead role in the ABC drama pilot Beauty and the Beast. In this version, which is a re-imagining of the classic fairy tale, Bradley will be the Belle-esque Grace, an embattled princess. (Megan Masters at TV Line)

Actors Paul Blackthorne (The River) and Jamey Sheridan (Law & Order: Criminal Intent) have joined the cast of the drama pilot called Arrow at The CW. The pilot, of course, is based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow that will star Stephen Amell as the vigilante superhero who fights crime using archery, martial arts and technology under his secret identity as Oliver Queen, a wealthy playboy and billionaire industrialist-turned-outspoken politician in Star City. Blackthorne will play Det. Quentin Lance, the father of Oliver’s love interest Laurel (Katie Cassidy), a gruff, determined city detective who believes true justice can only come from law and order. Meanwhile, Sheridan will play Robert Queen, Oliver’s father. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Johnathon Schaech (That Thing You Do), Kerris Dorsey (Brothers & Sisters and Moneyball) and Ambyr Childers (All My Children) have all joined the cast of the cast of the Showtime drama Ray Donovan that will star Live Schreiber as a professional “fixer” for the rich and famous in Los Angeles. Schaech will play Sean Stevens, a major movie star with a mysterious connection to Ray’s past. Dorsey will play Ray’s daughter, Bridget and Childers (All My Children) will play Ashley Rucker, a young star under Ray’s protection. (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)

Australian actor Jay Ryan has landed the lead role opposite Kristin Kreuk (Smallville) in the drama pilot Beauty and the Beast from The CW. This version will be loosely based on the 1980s CBS series that will center on Catherine (Kreuk), a tough-minded NYPD homicide detective haunted by witnessing her mother’s murder nine years ago and the killers’ quick demise at the hands of a Beast. After years of searching, Catherine finally finds the Beast, Vincent Koslow (Ryan), the survivor of a military experiment that went disastrously wrong, and becomes the protector of his secret life as a superhero. Ryan appeared on the popular Australian soap Neighbours and had a small recurring role in Terra Nova. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

According to actor Niall Matter (Zane on Eureka) via his Twitter feed he has signed on as one of the leads on the new Primeval series. I’m going to guess this is the Americanized version that has been talked about recently. (Twitter)

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actress Scarlett Johansson and James D’Arcy (Secret Diary of a Call Girl) are set to play Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins respectively in the upcoming film called Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho that will follow Hitchcock and his struggles during the filmmaking of the horror classic. Anthony Hopkins will play the iconic director and Helen Mirren will play his wife Alma. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Nicole Kidman will star in the upcoming box office film called The Railway Man, a World War II. The drama will also star Colin Firth, as prisoner of war in Japan and his reconciliation with one of his captors 30 years later. Jeremy Irvine (War Horse) will be playing a younger version of Lomax (Firth’s character) during the WWII scenes. Kidman will play Lomax’s wife Patti, who took a key role in helping him to face up the psychological damage caused by his wartime horrors, and in bringing him back together with one of the Japanese officers who had participated in his torture. (Variety and First Showing)

British actress Olivia Williams (Dollhouse) will star opposite Ben Barnes, Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore in the film adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s series of young adult books about a teen who learns the art of wizardry after discovering that he is the seventh son of a seventh son called The Seventh Son. Her role in the film has yet to be disclosed. (Brian Brooks at Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!