Guillermo del Toro’s The Strain adds Robert Maillet as an ancient vampire

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

The Guillermo del Toro-produced FX pilot “The Strain” has been casting like mad lately, adding names such as Sean Astin, John Hurt, Corey Stoll, Mia Maestro, Kevin Durand, Richard Sammel, Lauren Lee Smith, Jonathan Hyde and Miguel Gomez. Add another to the mix: Robert Maillet.

Maillet, who is a very big boy indeed, just worked with del Toro on PACIFIC RIM, playing a Russian pilot of one of the Jaegers. In “The Strain” he’ll play an “evil vampire that has nested in secret and darkness, feasting on human suffering until now, emerging from the shadows to force a new world order.”

You may have seen Maillet in such films as SHERLOCK HOLMES and 300 (he was the gigantic “Uber Immortal”). He was also in the WWE for a few years as “Kurrgan”.

“The Strain” follows Dr. Ephraim Goodweather (Stoll), the head of the Center for Disease Control Canary Team in New York City, as he and his team investigate what appears to be an outbreak of vampirism. They soon need to fight for the fate of humanity itself.

Lauren Lee Smith