007 himself, Daniel Craig, is toplining PURITY, a drama series from Scott Rudin based on the Jonathan Franzen book. Word is the projects is being shopped to major cablers, including FX and Showtime, as well as streaming services Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon. As part of the package, they are looking for a series order of 20 episodes, to be written by Todd Field.
Originally envisioned as a feature, the dark comedy centers on Pip, a young American woman who does not know who she is, and Andreas, a charismatic German provocateur that heads a South America-based organization that traffics in all the secrets of the world. Pip gets an internship there in search of her identity.
In addition to his role as Bond, Craig has also starred in David Fincher’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Jon Favreau’s Cowboys & Aliens.
Craig and Field are repped by CAA, Rudin is with WME.
Natalie Martinez is set to star in Fox’s A.P.B. Written by David Slack and directed by Len Wiseman, the drama pilot is inspired by the New York Times Magazine article “Who Runs the Streets of New Orleans” and will explore what happens when an enigmatic tech billionaire purchases a troubled police precinct in the wake of a loved one’s murder.
Martinez will play Detective Amelia Murphy, a wry, confident cop from a family of police, who never hesitates to question authority, which may be the reason she has alienated every CO she’s worked for and wound up stuck in the dysfunctional 13th Precinct.
Last season, Martinez starred in the NBC drama pilot Warrior. Her credits include CBS’s Under The Dome, DirecTV’s Kingdom, and feature film Self/Less opposite Ryan Reynolds. She’s repped by WME and Atlas Artists.
Comedy Central pilot CORPORATE has cast Anne Dudek and Adam Lustick as series regulars and tapped Lance Reddick for a recurring role. The series, written by Matt Ingebretson, Jake Weisman, and Pat Bishop, is a dark, satirical workplace comedy that follows two junior executives-in-training (played by Ingebretson and Weisman) who are forced to do the dirty work of the higher-ups at one of the world’s largest corporations, Hampton DeVille. Bishop will direct the pilot.
Dudek plays Kate, a friendly in a sociopathic way executive. Lustick is John, another executive with Hampton DeVille. Reddick will recur as Christian, the high-strung CEO of Hampton Deville.
Dudek has recurred on Mad Men, House, Covert Affairs, and can currently be seen in SyFy’s The Magicians. She’s with Innovative Artists and Trademark Talent. Lustick, repped by Gersh, Black Box Management, and Mosaic, is part of the CollegeHumor troupe and has appeared in their series Adam Ruins Everything. Reddick, who co-starred in Fringe, The Wire, and Bosch, is repped by Paradigm and Londonderry Entertainment.
Francois Chau, Susan Chuang, and Concetta Tomei join the family in NBC’s Untitled Matt Hubbard pilot. The single cam comedy stars Chris Smith as Andrew and Elizabeth Ho as Josie, a happily married interracial couple whose lives take a turn when they move close to Josie’s family in Missouri.
Chau and Chuang will play Josie’s parents, Jae Kim and Sun Kim. Jae is the charismatic, strong-willed, demanding owner of Kim’s Academy, a successful tae kwon do studio. He hasn’t yet fully accepted Andrew, who he feels is not quite worthy of his daughter. Sun has lived in the U.S. for 30 years but still holds on to many traditional Korean values, a characteristic that sometimes frustrates her more progressive daughter. Tomei will play Andrew’s grandmother Barbara, a commercial actress from L.A. who is an extroverted and opinionated pain in the ass. Andrew and Josie insist she move to Missouri with them so they can keep an eye on her.
Chau, repped by GVA Talent, has appeared in The Expanse, Major Crimes, Bones, and Criminal Minds. Chuang has recurred on Shameless and Victorious. She’s with David Shapira & Associates. Tomei, best known as Lynda Hansen on Providence, has appeared in Necessary Roughness, Nip/Tuck, and Weeds. She’s repped by Innovative Artists.
Hulu original series SHUT EYE has tapped Angus Sampson for a regular role. The darkly comedic series starring Jeffrey Donovan and KaDee Strickland explores the underground world of Los Angeles storefront psychics and the organized crime syndicate that runs them.
Sampson will play Fonzo, a macho and powerful Romani kingpin with a taste for the finer things in life. A single father still mourning the loss of his wife, he appears affable and easygoing — but in fact, he’s a dangerous, menacing man who runs his business with an iron fist.
Sampson’s credits include FX’s Fargo, the Insidious feature franchise, and Mad Max: Fury Road. He’s repped by Gersh, Ellen Meyer Management, and Creative Representation.
Manny Montana is joining Hayley Atwell, Shawn Ashmore, and Emily Kinney in ABC’s CONVICTION pilot. The legal drama, co-created by Liz Friedman and Liz Friedlander, stars Atwell as the brilliant but ne’er-do-well daughter of a former U.S. president who is blackmailed into taking a job as the head of Los Angeles’ newly created Conviction Integrity Unit. She works with her team of lawyers, investigators and forensic experts to examine cases where there’s credible suspicion that the wrong person may have been convicted of a crime.
Montana will play Franklin “Frankie” Rios, who is in charge of Forensics and has a street-savvy reserve that co-exists with a boyish excitement for science. He became interested in the field after watching a forensics show almost daily when serving two years in prison for car theft.
Montana, who co-starred as Johnny Tuturro on USA’s Graceland, is repped by Innovative Artists and Trademark Talent.
Katia Juanita | Staff Writer
