Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for the past week:

CASTING NEWS

Actress Ellen Page has been cast in the upcoming Netflix series The Umbrella Academy, which is the small screen adaptation of the popular comics and graphic novel of the same name. The live action series will follow the estranged members of a dysfunctional family of superheroes (The Umbrella Academy) – Luther, Diego, Allison, Vanya, Klaus and Number Five – as they work together to solve their father’s mysterious death while coming apart at the seams due to their divergent personalities and abilities. Page will play Vanya, the black sheep of her family. (Variety)

Actresses Felicia Day (The Guild) and Jaime Ray Newman (Grimm and Eastwick) will both appear in the third season of The Magicians, which is slated to return to Syfy in January. Day will play Poppy, a dragon expert while Newman will play Irene McAllistair, a member of Brakebills’ Board of Trustees. (TV Line and Nerdist)

Actor Vincent Ventresca (The Invisible Man and Prey) has landed a recurring role on the Freeform drama The Fosters, playing Henry Mullen, Grace’s (Brandon’s current girlfriend) father, an absentee dad, who is determined to visit his daughter despite copious amounts of friction with his ex-wife. (Deadline)

Singing legend Patti LaBelle and actress-singer Brandy Norwood will both appear in multi-episodes of Star with LaBelle playing Carlotta Brown’s (series lead Queen Latifah) tough but loving mother, Christine; and Norwood play Carlotta’s younger sister, Cassie. (Deadline)

Actor Eric Winter (Witches of East End) has landed a recurring role on The Good Doctor, playing Dr. Matt Coyle, a young and charming doctor, who initially impresses members of the hospital’s surgical team, but whose true character puts one of the team members in an awkward position at work. (Deadline)

Actor Stephan James (Shots Fired) has landed the lead role opposite Julia Roberts in the Amazon straight-to-series half-hour drama Homecoming, a psychological thriller centering on Heidi (Roberts), a caseworker at a secret government facility, and a soldier (James) eager to rejoin civilian life. (Deadline)

Actress Laura Mennell (Alphas) will star opposite Aidan Gillen in the History Channel’s upcoming 10-episode drama series Blue Book, which chronicles the true top secret U.S. Air Force-sponsored investigations into UFO-related phenomena in the 1950s and ’60s, known as “Project Blue Book.” Gillen plays Dr. J. Allen Hynek, a brilliant astrophysicist, family man, and UFO skeptic who is recruited as the Chief Scientific Advisor to “Project Blue Book.” Meanwhile, Mennell will play Allen’s wife, Mimi Hynek, who is seemingly a content stay-at-home housewife but has plans to become much more. (Deadline)

Actress Laurie Metcalf (Roseanne) and actor Jesse Rath (Defiance) will both be appearing the Supergirl. Metcalf will play the estranged mother of Winn Schott (series regular Jeremy Jordan) while Rath will have the recurring role of Brainiac 5. Half computer, half organic life and boasting a 12-level intellect, Brainiac 5 is a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes who travels to National City from the 31st Century to help Supergirl and the DEO battle Reign, the villain that L-Corp CEO Samantha Arias (recurring guest star Odette Annable) is on track to becoming. (Vanity Fair Feature and TV Line)

Actor James Tupper (Men in Trees and Revenge) will appear opposite his real-life wife Anne Heche in the NBC military drama The Brave, playing Alex Hoffman, a brilliant CIA field officer who in the past formed a partnership of opportunity with Patricia (Heche’s character) as they rose through the ranks together. (TV Line)

Actress Kim Raver (24 and Grey’s Anatomy) will reunite with her former 24 co-star Kiefer Sutherland in Designated Survivor where she will play Andrea Frost, a wunderkind engineer and entrepreneur whose company, Apache Aerospace, is at the apex of high-tech industry. This casting announcement comes just weeks after word leaked that leading lady Natascha McElhone (she plays Kiefer’s wife in the series) will exit at mid-season. (TV Line)

Actor-singer Josh Groban will star opposite Tony Danza (Who’s the Boss) in the upcoming Netflix series The Good Cop, playing the role of Tony Jr., an earnest, obsessively honest NYPD detective who makes a point of always following the rules. Tony Jr. is son to Tony Sr. (Danza), a disgraced, former NYPD officer who never followed the rules. They become unofficial partners as Tony Sr. offers his overly-cautious son blunt, street-wise advice on everything from handling suspects to handling women. (Variety)

Actors Russell Hornsby (Grimm) and Tim Matheson (Hart of Dixie) as well as actress Dina Meyer (Kingdom) will appear in the upcoming 4th season of The Affair on Showtime. Hornsby will play Carl Gatewood, Janelle’s (Sanaa Lathan) ex-husband and Noah’s (West) rival for her affection. Matheson and Meyer will play a couple from Alison’s (Wilson) past, who have shocking information to share about who she is and where she comes from. (Deadline)

Actor Jocko Sims (The Last Ship) will have a recurring role on the new FOX medical drama The Resident that will center on a tough, brilliant senior resident who guides an idealistic young doctor through his first day, pulling back the curtain on what really happens, both good and bad, in modern-day medicine. Sims will play Dr. Ben Wilmot, a cocky and controlling doctor of internal medicine who takes interest in a patient with hopes of solving a decade-long medical mystery. The series includes Matt Czuchry, Emily VanCamp, Manish Dayal, Merrin Dungey Melina Kanakaredes and Bruce Greenwood. (Deadline)

MOVIE CASTING NEWS

Young actor Asher Angel (the Disney Channel series Andi Mack) has been cast as Billy Batson opposite Zachary Levi (Chuck) in the DC superhero movie Shazam!, which follows a boy (Angel) who can transform into an adult superhero by uttering the magic word “Shazam!” The name is an acronym of the ancient gods and historical figures Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury. (Variety)

NEW DEVELOPMENTS

There will be another small screen adaptation of a John le Carre novel. This time it’s the 1983 box The Little Drummer Girl [coming from the same folks who did The Night Manager]. Actress Florence Pugh (from the 2016 box office film Lady MacBeth) will have the lead role. The six-part drama will be set in the 1970s, following a young, brilliant actress as she prepares for her ultimate role in the theater of the real, and against the backdrop of rising tensions in the Middle East. (Deadline)

RENEWALS/CANCELLATIONS

The CW has given a full season order to Dynasty (why?!) but has not opted to pick up any additional episodes (beyond 13 episodes) for the new military series Valor. (Variety and Deadline)

TRAILER

The Crown Season 2

That’s it. Enjoy!