Fresh off of playing the character Francis Cobb on the hit HBO series The Penguin, Deirdre O’Connell has signed on to join Claire Danes (Homeland), Matthew Rhys (Perry Mason), Brittany Snow (Pitch Perfect), Natalie Morales (No Hard Feelings), David Lyons (Truth Be Told), and Tim Guinee (Horizon: An American Saga) in the cast of the the mystery thriller limited series The Beast in Me for Netflix – and Variety reports that O’Connell is just one of nine new additions to the cast! The other eight new additions are Jonathan Banks (Breaking Bad), Hettienne Park (The Last of Us), Aleyse Shannon (Leverage: Redemption), Will Brill (The OA), Kate Burton (Grey’s Anatomy), Bill Irwin (The Dropout), Amir Arison (The Blacklist), and Julie Ann Emery (Better Call Saul).
Created, written, and executive produced by Gabe Rotter, who previously worked on The X-Files, The Beast in Me has the following synopsis: Since the tragic death of her young son, acclaimed author Aggie Wiggs (Danes) has receded from public life, unable to write, a ghost of her former self. But she finds an unlikely subject for a new book when the house next door is bought by Nile Jarvis (Rhys), a famed and formidable real estate mogul who was once the prime suspect in his wife’s disappearance. At once horrified and fascinated by this man, Aggie finds herself compulsively hunting for the truth – chasing his demons while fleeing her own – in a game of cat and mouse that might turn deadly.
Snow will be playing Nina, Nile’s spouse; Morales is Shelley, Aggie’s ex-wife; Lyons’ character is FBI agent Brian Abbot; and Guinee will play Wrecking Ball, an intimidating presence in Nile’s life. It’s not surprising to hear that the guy is intimidating, given that he’s called Wrecking Ball. As for the new additions, Park will be playing Agent Erika Breton, an FBI agent who works with Abbott (Lyons); Banks’ character is Martin Jarvis, Nile’s (Rhys) father; Shannon will play Olivia Benitez, a city council member who opposes Nile’s business plans; Brill is Chris Ingram, Nile’s missing wife’s brother; Burton is Mariah Ingram, Nile’s missing wife’s mother; Irwin is James Ingram, Nile’s missing wife’s father; Emery is Lila Jarvis, Martin Jarvis’ wife; Arison plays Frank Breton, FBI Agent Erika Breton’s ex-husband; and O’Connell is taking on the role of Carol McGiddish, Aggies’ (Danes) literary agent and trusted friend.
Rotter and Danes serve as executive producers on the show alongside Conaco’s Conan O’Brien, Jeff Ross, and David Kissinger, director Antonio Campos, writer Daniel Pearle (American Crime Story), Jodie Foster and Caroline Baron, and showrunner Howard Gordon, whose previous credits include Homeland, 24, and The X-Files. Gordon is executive producing through his company Teakwood Lane Productions. 20th Television is the studio behind the project.
Does The Beast in Me sound interesting to you? What do you think of the cast that has been assembled for this show? Let us know by leaving a comment below.