Staff Writer
Ladies and gentlemen, pilot season is afoot, replete with casting executives scrambling to cast their leads. Most of them go after the same stars, which leads to a couple of actors juggling many offers bringing the season to a grinding halt.
According to Deadline, Rose Byrne of Damages was the main focus during last year’s pilot season scramble, but she passed on all the offers. Several actresses, including, “Jennifer Connelly, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Diane Lane, Maria Bello, Hilary Swank, Octavia Spencer, Felicity Huffman, Kyra Sedgwick, Sarah Chalke and Elizabeth Banks,” have received multiple offers but have yet to commit to any.
Tea Leoni (pictured) has already committed to a project, CBS drama Madam Secretary, “with popular pilot targets Jack Davenport, Jennifer Carpenter (both for ABC’s Sea Of Fire) and David Schwimmer (ABC’s Irreversible) also spoken for.”
Ellie Kemper and Natasha Lyonne have avoided the scramble and already attached themselves to NBC’s Tina Fey/Robert Carlock series and Amy Poehler pilot respectively.
Hugh Laurie is in high demand again this season. Last year after he “flirted with NBC’s pirate drama Crossbones,” he passed on a series of other pilots, which included NBC’s The Blacklist. This year, he is still raking in the offers for both one-hour and half-hour shows.
Magic City star Jeffrey Dean Morgan is also highly sought after this season, as is John C. Reilly. John Krasinski is another favored choice for male leads, but he has not made it clear if he intends to return to television. Thomas Haden Church, James Marsden, Seann William Scott, Dennis Quaid, Luke Wilson, and Adam Pally are said to be among other popular leading-man choices.
Often, after a show has been cancelled, the cast of said show, “creates a feeding frenzy.” This year, that show is the recently cancelled Happy Endings. Its cast has been involved in a mad dash to fill spots in pilots. Eliza Coupe and Casey Wilson became quickly attached to USA’s comedy Benched and NBC series Marry Me, respectively.
Parks and Recreation’s recent departees Rob Lowe and Rashida Jones also joined the pilot season scramble. Lowe will join the NBC’s The Pro and Jones will lead TBS’ Tribeca.
Whilst not everyone’s destinations may be certain as yet, this flurry of big names is certainly going to make for a bunch of interesting new shows to watch.
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