Casting News - February 28, 2018
CBS' SEAL Team; FOX's Empire; HBO's Big Little Lies; and Netflix's The Umbrella Academy.
FOX's EMPIRE
- Rhyon Nicole Brown and Porscha Coleman have been cast in recurring roles on the drama's fourth season. Brown starred for four seasons in ABC Family's Lincoln Heights. Coleman appeared in the TV One film You Can't Fight Christmas.
- Brown will play Maya, the daughter of Poundcake, Cookie's (Taraji P. Henson) fellow inmate. She was born in prison, stolen from her mother's arms and adopted by upper middle-class parents. A classically trained dancer, she's beautiful, graceful and headstrong.
- Coleman will play Mercedes, Porsha's (Ta'Rhonda Jones) sexy and ambitious cousin. She has a street-hustle mentality and looks to exploit any avenue she can to jumpstart her budding singing/rap career.
CBS' SEAL TEAM
- Dawn Olivieri will appear in a recurring role on the drama's first season. She starred for three seasons in Showtime's House of Lies and can currently be seen in the Netflix film Bright.
- She will play Amy Nelson, an independent contractor whom Jason (David Boreanaz) meets on the base during deployment. Sparks will strike quickly thereafter.
HBO's BIG LITTLE LIES
- James Tupper, Jeffrey Nordling and Iain Armitage have closed new deals to return to the hit drama for its upcoming second second. They join returning stars Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern, Zoë Kravitz and Adam Scoot, as well as new addition Meryl Streep.
- Tupper plays Nathan Carlson, Madeline's (Witherspoon) ex-husband and Bonnie's (Kravitz) husband. He copes with a complicated turn of events in his marriage and with his eldest daughter, Abby (Kathryn Newton).
- Nordling plays Gordon Klein, Renata's (Dern) husband. He faces the consequences of a big mistake and risks losing everything along the way.
- Armitage plays Ziggy, Jane's (Woodley) son. He starts second grade and continues to be the light of Jane's life.
NETFLIX's THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY
- John Magaro has joined the cast of the upcoming drama starring Ellen Page and Tom Hopper. He has previously recurred on Netflix's Orange Is the New Black.
- He will play Leonard Peabody, a sweet Average Joe who begins to take music lessons from Vanya (Page) and sees something special in this constantly dismissed wallflower, giving her a confidence that she's never had before. Their love story plays out against the larger than life struggles of the Umbrella Academy.
