THE DEATH OF EVA SOFIA VALDEZ has added Gina Torres and Angelica Celaya. It centers on Eva Sofia Valdez, an immigrant who rose from rags to riches and is a celebrated Miami entrepreneur and a champion for immigrant rights. But her success is fueled by an insatiable ambition that could destroy her family, a vendetta against the lover who betrayed her, and ghosts from the past who threaten to reveal the dark sacrifices Eva Sofia made to attain the American Dream. Torres is set as the titular character while Celaya plays Dominique, a “shadow woman” who mysteriously enter Eva Sofia’s life.
Torres is repped by Domain and Framework Entertainment. Celaya is repped by Innovative Artists and DePaz Management.
Blair Underwood has been tapped for the male lead in the untitled Meaghan Oppenheimer drama pilot executive produced by Reese Witherspoon. The series follows the personal and professional life of Gemma, a ruthless divorce attorney in Dallas, which begins to unravel when her emotionally damaged, love-addicted sister resurfaces, triggering and self-destructive tendencies and exposing long-hidden family secrets. Underwood will play Gemma’s love interest and sometimes lover.
He is repped by ICM Partners and Thruline Entertainment.
Twin Peaks‘ Madchen Amick and 24‘s Marisol Nichols are moving to RIVERDALE, the CW pilot based on the Archie Comics characters and producer Greg Berlanti. Amick is set as Betty’s mom Alice Cooper and Nichols will play Hermione Lodge, Veronica’s upscale mother.
Amick is repped by Gersh and KW Entertainment. Nichols is repped by Primary Wave.
24: LEGACY has added Dan Bucatinsky, Coral Pena, and Charlie Hofheimer to the cast. They join previously cast Miranda Otto and Corey Hawkins in the reboot of Fox’s hit 24 that starred Keiffer Sutherland.
Bucatinsky is repped by CAA and Sanders Armstrong Caserta Management. Pena is repped by Innovative Artists and MZ.MGMT.NT. Hofheimer is repped by Paradigm and Forward Entertainment.
Last summer’s hit TNT series MR. ROBOT has promoted Michael Cristofer and Stephanie Corneliussen to series regulars for the upcoming second season. They have also added Joey Bada$$ and Chris Conroy in recurring roles.
Cristopher and Conroy are repped by Gersh. Corneliussen is repped by Independent Talent Group and PCM International.
Kathleen Rose Perkins has been tapped to star opposite sitcom veteran Candice Bergen in ABC’s single camera comedy PEARL. The series centers on Pearl (Bergen), a larger-than-life family matriarch who, after she finds out she has cancer, becomes intent on controlling and orchestrating every aspect of her family’s life before she dies. Perkins will play Pearl’s daughter, Virginia.
She is repped by Gersh and Trademark Talent.
Deidrich Bader has landed a co-starring role in ABC’s THE SECOND FATTEST HOUSEWIFE IN WESTPORT. Narrated by Katie, a (slightly) larger, strong-willed mother raising her flawed family of three in a wealthy town filled with “perfect” wives and their “perfect” offspring. Bader will play Katie’s husband, Jeff Otto.
He is repped by Principato Young Entertainment and Paradigm.
Lena Olin and Tom Brittney have won the lead roles in SPARK, an ABC pilot from Michael Cooney and producers Ian Sander and Kim Moses. The show is a lavish primtime drama series of passion, greed, and hope in a Steampunk reality circa 2016. Olin plays Hazel Stockton, a self-made woman who now controls the powerful Stockton Coal Company, and Brittney plays her son Aiden, Captain of the Investive Division of the Watch.
Olin is repped by Untitled Entertainment and Paradigm. Brittney is repped by Authentic and Gersh.
Carlos Leal has booked a series regular role in ABC’s DREAM TEAM. The show centers on Marty Schumacher, who coached his last Club soccer team for ten years, ultimately taking them to the National Championships. He now has to start from scratch with a diverse group of eight-year-olds, and their disparate parents. The project draws on personal experiences by Lizer, who – like so many others – is a soccer mom on the weekends. Leal will play the husband of Olga, an affable and easy-going owner of a successful restaurant.
He is repped by Creative Partners Group and Brio Entertainment.
Sarah Baker is teaming up with Casey Wilson in HAIL MARY a single camera pilot from ABC. The series centers on Mary Wolf (Wilson), a young small-town mayor named who has dysfunctional siblings, a dying father, disgruntled citizens, a nearly bankrupt town and the mafia breathing down her neck. Baker play’s Mary’s older sister.
She is repped by Pakula/King & Associates and 3 Arts.
Kelli Goss has joined Katey Sagal and John Carroll Lynch in FURST BORN (previously untitled Butler/Hope/O’Shannon pilot). The extended-family show is about a wife and mother who learns she was adopted and that her birth parents are a flamboyant but loving family of drag racers. Goss is set as the youngest of three legitimate children of Wayne and Julie.
Goss is repped by Global Artists Agency and Luber Roklin Entertainment.
Emily J | Staff Writer
