Lots of drama (literally) on the pilot casting front today…
– Michael Ealy (“Common Law,” “Think Like a Man”) has nabbed a leading role in “Fringe” showrunner J.H. Wyman’s untitled Fox pilot, set in a near-future Los Angeles where cops are paired with android partners. Ealy will play Dorian, an android whose sense of humanity is greater than that of his human cohort. Wyman wrote the script and will executive-produce alongside Bad Robot’s J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk. The pilot is set to be directed by Brad Anderson (“Fringe,” “The Machinist”). [EW]
– “Without a Trace” star Anthony LaPaglia is set to play Felicity Huffman’s husband in Fox’s “Boomerang,” about a family of U.S. government assassins and the “loose-cannon” son (Michael Stahl-David) who is forced to return to the fold after a mission in Guatemala goes terribly wrong, leaving him with no money and no options. LaPaglia will play Bill, a former CIA operative and the patriarch of the deadly clan. The Davey Holm-created series also stars Patrick Heusinger (“Royal Pains,” “Gossip Girl”) as the older of the family’s two sons. [TVLine]
– Tracie Thoms (“Cold Case”) will co-star with former “Made In Jersey” star Janet Montgomery in ABC’s “Gothica,” the gothic soap opera that incorporates literary monsters including Dracula, Frankenstein and Dorian Gray into a modern-day storyline. Thoms is set to play Mina, the managing editor of the small-town newspaper taken over by relocated New York journalist Montgomery’s Grace Van Helsing, whose family owns the publication. Written by Matt Lopez, the ABC Studios/Mark Gordon pilot is set to be directed by Anand Tucker (“Leap Year,” “Shopgirl”). [Deadline]
– Aussie thesp Rodger Corser joins Rachel Griffiths, Tom Pocock (“X-Men Origins: Wolverine”) and Tom Green (no, not THAT Tom Green) in NBC’s hour-long summer dramedy series “Camp,” which has already been ordered for ten episodes. From “Deception” writers Liz Helden and Peter Elkoff, the show will center on the antics of a group of teenagers attending a family summer camp overseen by director Mackenzie Greenfield (Griffiths). Corser will play the director of a rival camp in the series, which is slated to be shot in the land Down Under. [Deadline]
– Max Deacon (“Hatfields & McCoys”) has been cast in Bravo pilot “The Joneses,” a drama based on the 2009 satirical film starring Demi Moore and David Duchovny. The plot centers on a group of “stealth marketing” employees who pose as family members in a suburban neighborhood. Deacon is set to play the role of “son” Nick in the prospective series, which comes from writer Liz Tigelaar (“Revenge,” “Life Unexpected”). [Deadline]
Care to weigh in with your thoughts on any of the above castings? Sound off in the comments.