Casting News - September 6, 2018
ABC's For the People & Single Parents; DC Universe's Swamp Thing; FOX's Empire; Hulu's The Act; Paramount's First Wives Club; and Showtime's The Chi.
FOX's EMPIRE
- Mario has been cast in a recurring role on the drama's upcoming fifth season. The singer-actor's previous film credits include Freedom Writers and Step Up.
- He will play Devon, an earnest, up-and-coming R&B singer who supports his ailing sister. Both the Empire label and Lyon Family Management are vying against each other to sign him.
PARAMOUNT's FIRST WIVES CLUB
- Ryan Michelle Bathe will star opposite Jill Scott and Michelle Buteau on the upcoming comedy created by Tracy Oliver. She has previously recurred on NBC's This Is Us, Lifetime's Army Wives and FOX's Empire.
- She will play Ari, a confident, type-A attorney with impeccable style and not a single strand of hair out of place. She was on track to make partner but sidestepped her career to advance her husband's political ambitions and raise their two kids. When a crisis reunites her with her best friends from college, she is able to translate her kick-ass courtroom skills to help them reclaim their independence and rekindle the camaraderie (and fun) of their college glory days.
ABC's SINGLE PARENTS
- Hannah Simone will appear in at least two episodes of the upcoming comedy starring Taran Killam, Leighton Meester and Brad Garrett. She starred for seven seasons in FOX's New Girl. Her casting reunites her with New Girl's Liz Meriwether and J.J. Philbin, who created the new comedy.
- She will play Dr. Monique Dewan, a brilliant, sexy and terrifying pediatrician whom Will Cooper (Killam) asks out. She is his first attempt at dating following his divorce.
ABC's FOR THE PEOPLE
- Charles Michael Davis has joined the drama's upcoming second season as a new series regular. He previously starred for five seasons in The CW's The Originals. He was also a series regular on the fifth season of TV Land's Younger and is expected to continue in the sixth season.
- He will play Ted, the new investigator in the Public Defender's office.
SHOWTIME's THE CHI
- Kimberly Hebert Gregory, Carl Lumbly and Curtiss Cook have landed recurring roles on the drama's upcoming second season.
- Gregory (Vice Principals, Better Call Saul) will play Kimberly Hendricks, a razor-sharp power attorney working on behalf of Ronnie (Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine).
- Lumbly (Alias, Supergirl) will play Walter Dion Burkes, the ranking member and founder of the 63rd St. Mob. He keeps a low profile but still has influence on the streets.
- Cook (Luke Cage, House of Cards) will play Douda, a successful Southside businessman and hustler who also has ties to Reg (Barton Fitzpatrick). With Reg's help, he'll become an unlikely mentor to Brandon (Jason Mitchell).
DC UNIVERSE's SWAMP THING
- Crystal Reed will play the female lead on the upcoming drama created by Mark Verheiden and Gary Dauberman. She previously starred for three seasons in MTV's Teen Wolf and one season in FOX's Gotham.
- She will play Abby Arcane, a smart and caring CDC doctor. Her strong sense of empathy puts her at the center of a horrific life-threatening epidemic in her hometown, where she faces emotional demons from her past. A chance meeting with scientist Alec Holland takes her into a world of horror and the supernatural, and of the elemental creature known as Swamp Thing.
HULU's THE ACT
- Joey King will star opposite Patricia Arquette on the upcoming anthology series created by Nick Antosca and Michelle Dean. She starred in the first season of FX's Fargo and in the Netflix film The Kissing Booth.
- She will play Gypsy Rose Blanchard, Dee Dee's (Arquette) daughter. Confined to a wheelchair but cheerful and gracious, she is everyone's idea of the perfect sick child. Her overprotective mother has always been by her side. But as Gypsy's sexuality comes into full bloom, she finds herself forced to rebel against her mother's protectiveness, which has turned controlling and oppressive.
