Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Here are the news items for this past week:

RENEWALS

Netflix has given Insatiable a second season order. (Variety)

Amazon has picked up a second season of the Stana Katic drama Absentia. (The Hollywood Reporter)

CASTING NEWS

Actor Lee Pace (Pushing Daises, Halt and Catch Fire and Guardians of the Galaxy) has been cast in the upcoming second season of the Hong Kong action-drama series Flying Tiger, which follows an elite Hong Kong police officer who is tasked with infiltrating a dangerous criminal organization. The exact details of Pace’s role are being kept under wraps, but it is known he will be playing an American villain on the show. (Variety)

Cassandra Jean Amell – the real-life wife of Arrow star Stephen Amell – will play Nora Fries, the wife of the DC Comics villain Mr. Freeze in the planned December crossover episodes of The CW DC shows. ALSO, actress Elizabeth Tulloch (Grimm) will play Lois Lane in the crossover event, which is set to air on December 9, 10 and 11. (TV Line and The Hollywood Reporter)

Actor Barry Sloane (Revenge and Six) has landed a recurring role in L.A.’s Finest, the 13 episode small screen spin-off from the Bad Boys movie franchise that is planned to air on Charter Communications’ Spectrum cable service, starring Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba. The show follows Burnett (Union), who last was seen in Miami taking down a drug cartel. She now has left her complicated past behind to become an LAPD detective. Paired with a new partner, Nancy McKenna (Alba), a working mom with an equally complex past, Burnett is pushed to examine whether her unapologetic lifestyle might be masking a greater personal secret. These two women don’t agree on much, but they find common ground when it comes to taking on the most dangerous criminals in Los Angeles. Sloane will play Dante, the younger brother of bad guy Ray Sherman (Zach McGowan), with whom he shares a criminal past. Although he is an ex-con trying to turn things around, his big brother keeps getting the two of them mixed up with some dangerous criminals, pulling Dante back into his old, illicit life. The regular cast also includes Ernie Hudson, Zack Gilford, Duane Martin and Ryan McPartlin. (Deadline)

Actor Neal McDonough (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow) has landed a recurring role in the 2nd season of the Paramount Network series Yellowstone. He will play Malcolm Beck, a wealthy business mogul who runs an area casino with his brother, Teal. They are power players, down and dirty fighters who know how to work the system to get what they want. (Deadline)

Actor Mykelti Williamson (Justified and Midnight Caller) has landed a recurring role in Lethal Weapon. He will play Tom Barnes, Wesley Cole’s (new cast member Seann William Scott) CIA recruiter. (Deadline)

Actor Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad and The Path) has joined the cast of Westworld, but details on his character are being kept under wraps. (Deadline)

Actress Ilfenesh Hadera (Deception) has landed a lead role opposite Forest Whitaker in the EPIX straight-to-series crime drama Godfather of Harlem that tells the true story of infamous crime boss Bumpy Johnson (Whitaker), who in the early 1960s returned from ten years in prison to find the neighborhood he once ruled in shambles. With the streets controlled by the Italian mob, Bumpy must take on the Genovese crime family to regain control. Hadera will play Mayme Johnson wife of Bumpy (Whitaker). (Deadline)

Actor Shane West (Salem and Nikita) has landed a recurring role in the upcoming 5th and final season of the FOX drama Gotham, playing Eduardo Dorrance, an old Army buddy of Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie), who returns to Gotham years later, leading a team of elite soldiers with the goal of helping Gordon restore order to No Man’s Land. But as the scales fall from Gordon’s eyes, he realizes Dorrance’s true intentions in Gotham are much darker and more evil than he could have believed. (Deadline)

Actress Lyndie Greenwood (Sleepy Hollow) has landed a recurring role in the FOX music drama Star, playing Megan Jetter, a lawyer who just set up her own firm back in town. (Deadline)

Actor Xander Berkeley (Nikita and The Walking Dead) will guest star in season 4 of Supergirl, playing Peter Lockwood, the dad of Ben Lockwood (aka Agent Liberty), the anti-alien character that will be introduced in the upcoming season, which will be played by Sam Witwer (Being Human). (TV Line and TV Insider)

MOVIE CASTING NEWS

Actress Susan Kelechi Watson (This Is Us) will star opposite Tom Hanks and Matthew Rhys in the upcoming box office film You Are My Friend, the movie about one of America’s most beloved childhood icons Fred Rogers. (Deadline)

That’s it. Enjoy!