After an excellent run on HOUSE OF CARDS that should earn him an Emmy nomination, Corey Stoll has taken the lead as Eph Goodweather in the pilot for Guillermo Del Toro‘s vampire series THE STRAIN on FX. Joining him as the female lead will be TWILIGHT and ALIAS alum Mia Maestro. Maestro will play Dr. Nora Martinez, Eph’s partner at the CDC and love interest.
Stoll and Maestro will make an excellent duo for the series based on the trilogy of novels by Del Toro and Chuck Hogan. Also added to the cast in supporting roles are Jonathan Hyde (TITANIC) as Eldritch Palmer, a major antagonist in the books, and Richard Sammel (INGLORIOUS BASTERDS), someone from the past of Abraham Setrakian. Setrakian is the Van Helsing character in the story which plays like a modernized DRACULA.
Del Toro’s novels definitely feel like a screenplay turned into a book so there will be very little to alter to make this into a television series. FX will give the series the TV-MA treatment and it definitely has the potential to rival THE WALKING DEAD in terms of fanbase. FX has faith in the series which Del Toro will begin directing the pilot for just as soon as he finishes the press for PACIFIC RIM.
THE STRAIN will likely debut late this year or next year on FX.