Rebecca Romijn

Michael Gaston has joined the cast of Damon Lindelof’s HBO drama pilot The Leftovers, directed by Peter Berg. Co-written by Lindelof and Tom Perrotta based on Perrotta’s book, the project takes place after the Rapture happens but not quite like it’s supposed to. It is the story of the people who didn’t make the cut… and a world that will never be the same. Gaston, repped by APA and Sanders Armstrong Caserta Management, will play Dean, a man who seems to understand that times have changed and addresses it head-on — often violently. He has recurred on Mad Men, The Mentalist and Damages. Amanda Walsh, Steve Burg, Rebecca Drysdale and Brad Morris star in Fox’s WTF America, a preliminary presentation for a hybrid scripted/unscripted project with a bit of reality from Dan Maser, Imagine TV and 20th Century Fox TV. Nick Thune and Candace Brown guest star in the presentation, which explores small-town America. Walsh, repped by ICM Partners and 3 Arts, also has a script she co-wrote with Carla Gallo in development at 20th TV.

Last month, BBC One set Matthew Rhys to play Mr. Darcy in Death Comes To Pemberley, the three-part serial based on P.D. James’ suspense novel which revisits Jane Austen’s most iconic characters. A vast lineup of British TV talent has now been added to the cast, including Doctor Who star Jenna-Louise Coleman as Lydia Wickham, the sister of Austen’s Pride And Prejudice heroine Elizabeth Bennett. As previously announced, Anna Maxwell Martin is playing Bennett and Matthew Goode is George Wickham, Lydia’s husband. The story picks up six years into Elizabeth and Darcy’s marriage as they prepare for their annual ball. When Lydia arrives, she brings a shocking halt to the proceedings and a murder investigation unfolds. Also joining the cast are Trevor Eve (Waking The Dead), Rebecca Front (The Thick Of It), James Fleet (Sense And Sensibility), Penelope Keith (To The Manor Born), Joanna Scanlan (The Thick of It), Tom Ward (Silent Witness), Eleanor Tomlinson (The White Queen) and James Norton (Rush). Calendar Girls‘ Juliette Towhidi penned the adaptation which will be directed by Daniel Percival (Crossing Lines). Shooting starts this month in Yorkshire. Origin Pictures is producing for BBC One.