Tim Roth set to star in Fox pilot and other casting news
Lots of casting news for Fox pilots lately. Tim Roth, who recently appeared in The Incredible Hulk, is set to star in Fox’s pilot Lie to Me. The show, which is produced by 20th TV and Imagine Entertainment, follows a researcher in the field of deception detection named Cal Lightman. Roth is also currently filming King Conqueror and 44 Inch Chest.
And the casting news doesn’t end there. The CW made some announcements too. Brian Hallisay, who has appeared in Bones and Bionic Woman, will co-star in the CW’s new drama called Privileged. The show is about Megan (played by Joanna Garcia), a woman who is hired to be a life coach for a pair of rich 16-year-old twins in Florida.
Finally, Jeff Hephner, Jay R. Ferguson, and Katie Lowes have been cast in Easy Money. The CW show centers around a family of loan sharks. Their matriarch, played by Laurie Metcalf, runs the business. Hephner of The O.C. will play her middle son; Ferguson of Sleeper Cell will play the eldest son. Lowes, who has been on The Sopranos and Ghost Whisperer, will play their younger sister.
Anne Archer taking over Privileged role
Anne Archer has joined the cast of the new CW series Privileged. She’ll be replacing Marsha Mason in the role of Laurel Limoges, a wealthy Palm Beach resident raising her orphaned granddaughters. Mason appeared in the drama’s pilot episode. Privileged is the series’ newest title. At different stages it was called How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls and, in the network’s recent upfront, Surviving the Filthy Rich.
The drama begins with twentysomething Megan Smith (played by Joanna Garcia) unexpectedly getting hired by Laurel Limoges to tutor the woman’s teen granddaughters. Laurel is a widow whose fortune comes from a successful cosmetics empire.
It’s unfortunate that Marsha Mason didn’t work out, but Anne Archer is a terrific fit for a show like this. She’s had more TV roles over the last few years. She played Melinda’s mother on Ghost Whisperer, and appeared in several episodes of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia as Dennis and Dee’s mom. It will be fun to compare her performance with Jessica Walters’ grandmother role, since Privileged is airing after 90210 on Tuesdays this fall. Which wealthy matriarch will rule the CW?
Springtime Wedding for Joanna & Trace?
Here are some details for you on the recent engagement of Justin Timberlake’s best friend and business partner, Trace Ayala, and Reba star Joanna Garcia.
A source reveals Ayala proposed in front of her family last Friday night in Chicago with a 3.5-carat cushion-cut white diamond ring surrounded by yellow diamonds.
The source also says they plan on marrying in the spring in Ayala’s hometown of Memphis.
A rep for Garcia says, “I can only confirm the Friday part.” The actress will next be seen in the new CW television series Surviving the Filthy Rich.
No word yet if they’ll be dressed on their big day by Ayala and Timberlake’s William Rast clothing line.
Only 344 days left until Lifetime’s next Christmas movie
You might want to make a note of this because it’s gonna be a long time before you see it. Lifetime wants us to know there’s been some major casting done on their holiday-themed movie A Very Merry Daughter of the Bride. Luke Perry, JoAnna Garcia, Helen Shaver and Kenneth Welsh have all jumped on board the film, which is cleverly scheduled to air in December 2008. I wish they’d give me a date because I really need to schedule a hair appointment that night.
It looks like it’s the story of a daughter (Garcia) who disapproves of her mother’s (Shaver) upcoming nuptials and so enlists the groom’s (Welsh) son (Perry) to try and persuade the pair to not wed. But the groom’s son is Luke Perry, and this movie’s on Lifetime so I think we all know what happens. And then Judith Light makes a cameo appearance as an empowered woman who survived an abusive past to become a stronger person (Okay, not really but you believed me for a minute there). I’m ashamed to admit it, but I’m weeping a bit right now just thinking about how touching it all is. I mean trying to break up your parents’ wedding; what spells H-O-L-I-D-A-Y-S better than that!