Taye Diggs has boarded hour-long pilot DOOMSDAY. Diggs will pay one of the former members of a U.S. government-instituted secret think tank – the Doomsday Project – comprised of the most creative minds in science and entertainment, tasked solely with dreaming up man-made disaster scenarios and their possible solutions. The ideas invented by the Doomsday Project were so dangerous that the list was sealed and the program shut down. But when a catastrophe occurs ripped from the pages of the missing doomsday book, the team is brought back years later to prevent the disasters of their own making.
Diggs is repped by ICM and Authentic Talent and Literary.
Nashville alum Oliver Hudson is set to headline SPLITTING UP TOGETHER opposite Jenna Fischer. The half-hour is the story of a couple, Lena and Martin, whose marriage is reignited by their divorce. They still live in the same house, alternating weeks, with one living upstairs and doing the parenting while the other lives downstairs in the guest apartment. Hudson has been cast as Martin, an athletic, easy-going kind of guy, who adjusts to his suddenly divorced life with hopeful optimism, but as a newly single parent, he can’t help but wonder what went wrong in his marriage.
Hudson is repped by ICM and Management 360.
Greg Berlanti’s DECEPTION has added Justin Chon in a series regular role. The drama centers on the story of superstar magician Cameron Black, who begins working with the FBI when his own career is ruined by scandal. In bringing his art of deception, illusion, and influence to the Bureau, Black becomes the world’s first consulting illusionist, helping the government solve crimes that defy explanation, and trap criminals and spies by using deception. Chon has been cast as Jordan Monroe, a witty and energetic street magician who is part of Cameron’s team.
Chon is repped by APA and JR Talent Group.
Lina Esco and Kenny Johnson have netted series regular roles on S.W.A.T. The project was inspired by the 2003 film of the same name and is described as an intense, action-packed procedural following a locally born-and-bred S.W.A.T. lieutenant, Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson, who is torn between loyalty to the streets and duty to his fellow officers when he’s tasked to run a highly trained unit that is the last stop for solving crimes in Los Angeles. Esco is set to play Chris, a skilled officer and exceedingly calm under pressure. Johnson will play Luca, the team’s expert driver and a skilled combat officer himself.
Esco is repped by CAA and Luber Roklin Entertainment.
Johnson is repped by Innovative and Luber Roklin Entertainment.
Saturday Night Live castmember Bobby Moynihan has booked a role in the comedy pilot ME, MYSELF, AND I. The single-camera comedy examines one man’s life over a 50-year span. It centers on three distinct periods in his life – as a 14-year-old in 1991, a 40-year-old in present day and a 65-year-old in 2042. Moynihan has been cast as the present-day version of Alex Riley, a lifelong inventor who is always trying to glimpse into the future. But, to get over his current case of inventor’s block, Alex must instead look to his past.
Moynihan is repped by UTA and Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment.
Elliot Knight will star opposite Lucy Hale in the dramedy LIFE SENTENCE. The project centers on Stella, a young woman diagnosed with terminal cancer. When she finds out that she’s not dying after all, she has to learn to live with the choices she made when she decided to “live like she was dying.” Knight has been cast as Wes, Stella’s husband, who was totally unhappy working in finance in the UK until he met Stella wile traveling in Paris and inspired him to change his life.
Knight is repped by ICM and Affirmative Entertainment.
Natalie Alyn Lind has joined Stephen Moyer for Fox’s untitled Marvel pilot. The action-adventure will focus on two ordinary parents who discover their children possess mutant powers. Forced to go on the run from a hostile government, the family joins up with an underground network of mutants and must fight to survive. Lind has been cast as Lauren, one of the children who is described as smart, pretty, popular, organized, and already ahead on her college applications.
Lind is repped by Coast to Coast Talent Group and MGMT Entertainment.
Fox’s drama pilot BEHIND ENEMY LINES has added Gabriel Chavarria and Melia Kreiling. The project is loosely based on the 2001 movie and is a military thriller wherein a group of U.S. soldiers find themselves trapped behind enemy lines. It’s a multi-perspective narrative that closely follows our soldiers on the ground and the officers and servicemen and women on a nearby aircraft carrier, along with intelligence officers in D.C. as they attempt to bring our heroes home safely and under the radar. Chavarria has been cast as Ziggy Rodriguez, a Navy pilot and the son of lifetime career Senior Navy Executive Officer Mateo Rodriguez. Kreiling is set as Shia Irivani, a Naval officer of deep faith, strong, principled, a woman of integrity, not without a sense of humor.
Chavarria is repped by Paradigm and Momentum Agency.
Kreiling is repped by CAA and Brillstein Entertainment.
Single-camera comedy GHOSTED has tapped Ally Walker to star. The project centers on a cynical skeptic and a genius “true believer” in the paranormal, who are recruited by the Bureau Underground to look into the rampant “unexplained” activity in Los Angeles – all while uncovering a larger mystery that could threaten the existence of the human race. Walker has been cast as Captain Lafrey, head of the Underground Investigative Service.
Walker is repped by Abrams Artists and Principato-Young.
Tina Fey’s THE SACKETT SISTERS has lined up Casey Wilson to star opposite Busy Philipps. The single-camera comedy centers on the Sackett family, which is reunited when two estranged sisters perform an act of public heroism and are forced to navigate the aftermath together. Wilson will play Sutton Sackett, the cautious, humble, and smartest in the Sutton family of train wrecks who moved as far from them as possible the minute she was old enough. Now living a normal and boring life in California, she works as a cost accounting supervisor for a canned fruit and vegetable distributor and has dated three straight guys named Dave.
Wilson is repped by UTA.
Sons of Anarchy spinoff MAYANS MC has tapped American Crime‘s Richard Cabral. The series is set in the aftermath of Jax Teller’s death at the end of Sons of Anarchy and will focus on the struggles of Ezekiel “EZ” Reyes, a prospect in the Mayan MC charter on the California/Mexico border. EZ is the gifted son of a proud Latino family, whose American dream was snuffed out by cartel violence. Now, his need for vengeance drives him toward a life he never intended and can never escape. Cabral has been cast as Johnny “El Coco” Cruz, a full patch member of Mayans MC, Santo Padre.
Cabral is repped by APA and Primary Wave Entertainment.
Emily J | TV Editor
