The first look at the official 90210 cast and other news about the spin-off
Earlier this week, The CW released this promotional picture of the 90210 regular cast. From left to right: Dustin Milligan, AnnaLynne McCord, Jessica Walter, Shenae Grimes, Tristan Wilds, Lori Loughlin, Ryan Eggold, Jessica Stroup and Michael Steger.
If you’ve been keeping up with information about the spin-off, you know that there is someone missing from that picture. No, it’s not Jennie Garth or Tori Spelling since they will be recurring/guest stars. But it’s the actor who’ll play the pivotal character of Harry Mills, a father who relocates his family in Beverly Hills to take care of his mother.
According to TV Guide’s Michael Ausiello, the show has had a hard time finding the right actor to play the Mills patriarch. The problem is that filming of the pilot/season premiere will start soon so they have to hire someone ASAP. Supposedly, the executive producers are thinking of offering the role to Rob Estes without having him go through the audition process. Estes, who recently appeared in Women’s Murder Club, was part of the first 90210 spin-off, Melrose Place. Personally, I hope that they offer him the role and that he accepts because the actor fits the role of Harry and that would make 90210 a very pretty zip code.
In other 90210 news, Entertainment Weekly learned that spin-off producer Gabe Sachs would not only like to use the original theme song but also have different bands record their own version of it each week. EW also reveals that the show is trying to get permission to shoot at Torrance High School, which was used to portray West Beverly High in the original series.
Finally, if you are nostalgic about the original series, go to Randi and Mike Lawson’s MySpace page where you can listen to “Oh, Minnesota,” a 90210 tribute song.
The Wire’s Tristan Wilds lands 90210 role
It’s a step up from Baltimore. Tristan Wilds, who played Michael on The Wire, is playing the male lead in the 90210 spinoff. Wilds will take on the role of Dixon, the adopted son of the Harry and Celia Mills. The Mills family is shaping up to be much more entertaining than the Walshes. Jessica Walter and Lori Loughlin have already been cast as the grandmother and mother, respectively. I can’t wait to see Michael having family dinner with Lucille Bluth and Becky from Full House.
In other 90210 casting news, Michael Steger is playing Navid, producer of the West Beverly High’s TV news show. I’m not familiar with Steger, but I’m thrilled that Wilds is returning to TV.
The Mills family is almost complete. I’m eager for the role of Harry Mills to be cast. The actor will have to hold his own with Jessica Walter, and that’s no easy task. While I’m not part of the spinoff’s target audience, I’ll be watching the first few episodes out of support for Walter and Wilds.
Jessica Walter joins the 90210 cast
The Beverly Hills 90210 spin off was looking for an actress in her 60’s who could play an actress and alcoholic. Who better for the role than Arrested Development’s Jessica Walter? After all, she is an actress and her AD role of Lucille Bluth required that she pretends to be drinking/drunk in a lot of episodes!
TV Guide and Entertainment Weekly confirmed earlier today that the actress was cast in the lead role of Tabitha Mills, an actress who had her career prime in the 70s and who is now best friends with a liquor bottle. Worried about his mother’s well-being, her son Harry moves his family to Beverly Hills.
Walter joins Lori Loughlin, who’ll play Harry’s wife Celia; Degrassi: The Next Generation’s Shenae Grimes, who’ll play Annie, daughter of Celia and Harry (role that was rumored to go to Hilary Duff); Dirt’s Ryan Eggold, who was cast as a teacher; and Runaway’s Dustin Milligan and Nip/Tuck’s AnnaLynne McCord, who will play teens that interact with the Mills teens. The lead roles of Harry and his son Dixon have yet to be cast.
Helen Hunt Biography
A pretty, effervescent blonde player, Helen Hunt is the daughter of acting coach and director Gordon Hunt. Born in Culver City, CA, she moved with her family to NYC for six years where she was exposed to theater. When her family returned to L.A., Hunt had decided she wanted to be an actress. Her first job was in the TV-movie “Pioneer Woman” (ABC, 1973), as the daughter of Joanna Pettet. Hunt landed her first spot as a series regular playing the daughter of a policewoman (Jessica Walter) on “Amy Prentiss” (NBC, 1974-75). She continued playing daughters (”Swiss Family Robinson”, ABC 1975-76; “It Takes Two” ABC, 1982-83) or girls-next-door (”The Fitzpatricks”, CBS 1977-78) in series TV, guest appearances (”Family”) and TV-movies (”Angel Dusted”, NBC 1981). Her lead performance in the CBS TV-movie “Quarterback Princess” (1983) earned her praise. One of Hunt’s first adult roles was as the girlfriend of Dr. Jack Morrison (David Morse) on the acclaimed NBC drama series “St. Elsewhere”. She played the title role in “Murder in New Hampshire: The Pamela Smart Story” (1991) about a school teacher arrested along with her 16-year-old lover for the murder of her husband. Hunt received some of her best notices to date (as well as several awards including two Emmys) as Jamie Buchman in the weekly comedy series “Mad About You” (NBC, 1992-99), co-starring with Paul Reiser as a couple facing the ups and downs of marriage.
On stage, Hunt appeared off-Broadway with Mary Stuart Masterson in “Been Taken” (1985) and co-starred opposite first Eric Stoltz and later Jason Gedrick on Broadway as Emily Webb in a revival of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” (1989). She has appeared in Los Angeles-area productions of “Vital Signs”, “Alice in Wonderland” and “The Value of Names”.
On the big screen, Hunt made her debut in “Rollercoaster” (1977), played Sarah Jessica Parker’s goofy friend in “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” (1985) and Kathleen Turner’s teenaged daughter in Francis Ford Coppola’s “Peggy Sue Got Married” (1986). She brought spunk to her role as an animal trainer in “Project X” (1987), was wasted as Patrick Swayze’s wife in “Next of Kin” (1989) and delivered a delicately nuanced, richly observed portrayal of a married editor of a writer crippled in a climbing accident who becomes romantically involved with him in Neil Jimenez’s “The Waterdance” (1992). In 1992, her “Quarterback Princess” co-star Tim Robbins directed her in a cameo in his political satire “Bob Roberts” and she won praise as a smart-mouthed young agent of Buddy Young Jr (Billy Crystal) in “Mr. Saturday Night” (1992). After a turn as David Caruso’s wife in Barbet Schroeder’s “Kiss of Death” (1995), Hunt had her biggest screen hit with Jan De Bont’s “Twister” (1996). Hunt looked great in a tank top but also brought a strong presence and believable intelligence to her role as a scientist tracking tornadoes with her estranged husband (Bill Paxton). She earned glowing reviews and netted a Best Actress Oscar for her turn as a single mother and waitress who becomes involved with Jack Nicholson’s curmudgeon in “As Good As It Gets” (1997). On the strength of this performance, Hunt was cast as the leading lady in a slew of movies in 2000, playing opposite Kevin Spacey, Richard Gere, Mel Gibson and Tom Hanks. In 2001, she starred opposited Woody Allen in “Curse of the Jade Scorpion,” and in 2002 was busy developing several projects under her Hunt/Tavel Productions company, these with Hunt in a leading, rather than romantic supporting role.
- Also Credited As:
Helen Elizabeth Hunt - Born:
on 06/15/1963 in Culver City, California - Job Titles:
Actor, Director
Family
- Daughter: Makena lei Gordon Carnahan. born May 13, 2004; father is writer-producer Matthew Carnahan
- Father: Gordon Hunt. directed award-winning episode of “Mad About You”; divorced Hunt’s mother in 1981
- Grandmother: Dorothy Fries.
- Mother: Jane Hunt. divorced Hunt’s father in 1981
- Uncle: Peter Hunt.
Significant Others
- Husband: Hank Azaria. became engaged in 1997; married on July 17, 1999; separated c. May 2000; Hunt filed for divorce on December 18, 2000
- Companion: Matthew Broderick. born March 21, 1962; acted with Hunt in “Project X” (1987); no longer together
- Companion: Matthew Carnahan.
Education
- University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
Milestones
- 1966 Lived in New York with her family
- 1973 Made TV debut in the ABC movie “Pioneer Woman”
- 1977 Made feature debut in “Rollercoaster”
- 1982 Played recurring role of Dr Jack Morrison’s girlfriend on the NBC medical series “St. Elsewhere”
- 1989 Made Broadway debut replacing Penelope Ann Miller as Emily Webb in a revival of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town”
- 1996 Co-starred with Bill Paxton in Jan De Bont’s blockbuster “Twister”
- 1997 Had strong leading role in the comedy-drama “As Good As It Gets”; received Academy Award as Best Actress
- 1998 Made TV directorial debut with episodes of “Mad About You”
- 2000 Acted in Robert Altman’s “Dr. T and the Women”
- 2000 Co-starred opposite Tom Hanks in “Castaway”
- 2000 Had leading role opposite Mel Gibson in “What Women Want”
- 2000 Starred opposite Kevin Spacey in “Pay It Forward”
- 2001 Had leading role in Woody Allen’s “The Curse of the Jade Scorpion”
- 2005 Co-starred with Ed Harris and Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Empire Falls” a miniseries on HBO
- Cast as the next door neighbor on “The Fitzpatricks” (CBS)
- Cast member of the series “Swiss Family Robinson”
- Co-starred on the relationship sitcom, “Mad About You”; made a producer during the 1996-1997 season
- Co-starred with Patty Duke, Richard Crenna and Anthony Edwards in the ABC sitcom “It Takes Two”
- Debut as a TV series regular as title character’s daughter on NBC police drama “Amy Prentiss”
- Makes her directorial debut in the upcoming drama “Then She Found Me,” a drama adapted from Elinor Lipman’s novel of the same name (lensed 2005)
- Moved to NYC
- Returned to L.A.
- Signed on to star in Emilio Estevez’s ensemble project “Bobby,” which will blend fact and fiction around the night in 1968 when Senator Kennedy was shot (lensed 2006)