Amazon's The Peripheral; AppleTV+'s The Essex Serpent; The CW's The 4400; Hulu's Pam & Tommy; Netflix's From Scratch; Showtime's Black Monday & The Chi; and Starz's The Serpent Queen.
STARZ's THE SERPENT QUEEN
- Samantha Morton will play the lead role in the upcoming drama created by Justin Haythe. She has received two Academy Award nominations - in 1999 for Sweet and Lowdown and in 2003 for In America. More recently, she starred for three seasons in Hulu's Harlots and one season in AMC's The Walking Dead.
- She will play Catherine de Medici. Considered an immigrant, common and plain, she is married into the 16th century French court as an orphaned teenager expected to bring a fortune in dowry and produce many heirs, only to discover that her husband is in love with an older woman, her dowry is unpaid and she's unable to conceive. Yet, only with her intelligence and determination, she manages to keep her marriage alive and masters the bloodsport that is the monarchy better than anyone else, ruling France for 50 years.
APPLE TV+'s THE ESSEX SERPENT
- Frank Dillane, Hayley Squires, Clémence Poésy and Jamael Westman have joined the cast of the upcoming drama starring Claire Danes and Tom Hiddleston. Dillane previously starred for four seasons in AMC's Fear the Walking Dead. Squires starred in the BBC Two drama Collateral and the Channel 4 drama Adult Material. Poésy starred in the second season of National Geographic's Genius. Westman starred in the West End production of the musical Hamilton.
- Dillane will play Luke Garrett, a pioneering young surgeon. Some call him a genius, others a liability. He's headstrong and ambitious, and he meets his intellectual match in Cora (Danes).
- Squires will play Martha. More than just a servant in Cora's household, she's a highly intelligent and fiery young socialist, and Cora's closest confidante.
- Poésy will play Stella Ransome. Friendly and sympathetic, she is adored by her husband Will (Hiddleston) and their children. A beautiful soul inside and out, she becomes a firm friend of Cora's when she arrives in Aldwinter.
- Westman will play Dr. George Spencer, Luke's right hand man. An unexceptional surgeon he may be, but a kinder man you couldn't hope to meet.
SHOWTIME's BLACK MONDAY
- Thomas Barbusca and Adreinne Wells have landed recurring roles on the comedy's upcoming third season. Barbusca previously starred for two seasons in FOX's The Mick. Wells is a recent graduate of the Yale School of Drama.
- Barbusca will play Werner, a young Republican assigned as an aide for Blair's (Andrew Rannells) congressional staff. He is more ambitious and less sycophantic than he initially seems.
- Wells will play Nomi, a self-possessed young talent with the voice to prove it, who quickly becomes the crown jewel in Mo's (Don Cheadle) new business venture.
SHOWTIME's THE CHI
- Vic Mensa and Da Brat have booked recurring roles on the drama's upcoming fourth season. Mensa was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2016 for co-writing Kanye West's "All Day." Da Brat has received two Grammy Award nominations in 1998 and 2004 for her rap performances in "Not Tonight" and "Got It Poppin'."
- Mensa will play Jamal, a passionate but high-strung man who is fighting to get help for his girlfriend and younger sister. His efforts place him at odds with Trig (Luke James) and Tracy (Tai Davis).
- Da Brat will play LaPortia, a truck driver who's just as comfortable passing through beds as she is through state lines. Her arrival in town will impact the Williams family.
NETFLIX's FROM SCRATCH
- Eugenio Mastrandrea, Danielle Deadwyler, Keith David, Kellita Smith, Judith Scott, Lucia Sardo, Paride Benassai and Roberta Rigano will co-star on the upcoming limited series starring Zoe Saldana. Mastrandrea currently appears in the Italian drama La fuggitiva. Deadwyler starred for one season in OWN's The Haves and the Have Nots and one season in Spectrum's Paradise Lost. David starred for five seasons in OWN's Greenleaf. Smith starred for five seasons in FOX's The Bernie Mac Show and five seasons in Syfy's Z Nation. Scott has recurred on FX's Snowfall and The CW's All American. Sardo has starred in the Italian series Romanzo Siciliano and Il Capitano Maria. Benassai has appeared in the Italian series La mafia uccide solo d'estate and La fuitina sbagliata. Rigano guest starred on HBO's I Know This Much Is True.
- Mastrandrea will play Lino, a Sicilian chef who grew up translating literature at night, after spending days picking garlic and olives with his father in the fields of Sicily and learning to cook at his mother's stove. He broke 100 years of tradition by leaving the fields to become a chef. It's through the love of his wife that he's able to fulfill his dream of dreams before the end of his life.
- Deadwyler will play Zora, Amy's (Saldana) older sister and best friend. Although she sometimes resents her baby sister for getting their parents to go along with her rule-breaking, she also lovingly cheers her on. With wry humor, she is Amy's fiercest ally in the family.
- David will play Hershel, Amy's father and a former civil rights activist. He is a plainspoken man who lets his kids make their own decisions but doesn't bullshit them if he thinks they're about to make a mistake. He raised two headstrong young women. Though happily remarried, his divorce from Amy's mom is a wound he still carries.
- Smith will play Lynn, Amy's bitingly funny mother full of judgment about almost every aspect of her daughter's life. She gave Hershel custody of the girls after they divorced and has spent the last decade feeling guilty and regretting that decision.
- Scott will play Maxine, Hershel's wife and Amy's stepmother. She practically raised Amy and Zora during their teen years, and her commitment to them is unwavering.
- Sardo will play Filomena, Lino's mother. She is deeply bound by Sicily's Old World culture but is adept at finding clever ways to work around the patriarchal hierarchy of her country and her marriage.
- Benassai will play Giacomo, Lino's father. This man with a grade school education devoted his life to garlic and olive farming and provided for his family. He is a proud patriarch who disapproves of his son not taking over the family business.
- Rigano will play Biagia, Lino's sister. She feels abandoned by Lino but also proud of his accomplishments by leaving home. She is also hurt and angry with herself for all the ways acquiescing to the patriarchal order cost her joy and a different life she could have had.
HULU's PAM & TOMMY
- Nick Offerman has been cast as a series regular on the upcoming limited series starring Lily James, Sebastian Stan and Seth Rogen. He previously starred for seven seasons in NBC's Parks & Recreation and in the FX on Hulu limited series Devs. He currently leads the voice cast of FOX's The Great North and co-hosts NBC's Making It, which returns for its third season this summer.
- He will play Uncle Miltie. Big and burly, this legendary prolific porn impresario brings his larger-than-life stature into the workplace to keep things lively and real. "The money guy," he helps Rand (Rogen) distribute the sex tape. A borderline sociopath, he treads the line between humorous and horrific.
AMAZON's THE PERIPHERAL
- Charlotte Riley, JJ Feild, Adelind Horan, T'Nia Miller and Alex Hernandez are set as series regulars on the upcoming drama starring Chloë Grace Moretz, Jack Reynor and Gary Carr. Riley previously starred in the FX limited series Trust. Feild starred for three seasons in AMC's Turn: Washington's Spies. Horan has guest starred on Netflix's The Punisher and HBO's The Deuce. Miller starred in the Netflix limited series The Haunting of Bly Manor. Hernandez has recurred on FOX's The Resident and HBO Max's Search Party.
- Riley will play Aelita. Feild will play Lev. Horan will play Billy Ann Baker. Miller will play Cherise. Hernandez will play Tommy Constantine.
THE CW's THE 4400
- Brittany Adebumola, Jaye Ladymore and Amarr Wooten have joined the cast of the upcoming drama reboot of the USA series. Adebumola previously recurred on Netflix's Grand Army. Ladymore has recurred on FOX's Empire and NBC's Chicago PD. Wooten has recurred on ABC's American Housewife.
- Adebumola will play Shanice, a driven lawyer, wife and new mother from the year 2005 who is suddenly transported to 2021 only to find that her daughter is now a teenager. She will be a fierce advocate for all those like her who are trying to figure out what happened to them.
- Ladymore will play Claudette, a preacher's wife from the 1950s who was active in the early Civil Rights Movement. She is surprisingly quick to adapt to 2021 and realizes that she may be a totally different person in this new time - in surprising and consequential ways.
- Wooten will play Hayden, who arrives in 2021 from the 1930s where he was kept in an institution. Perhaps due to an unpleasant past, he doesn't appear to speak but is compassionate and seems to have insight and knowledge into things he couldn't possibly know.
