‘Smallville’s Kristin Kreuk To Play Lead Role In CW’s ‘Beauty And The Beast’

In a pilot that has garnered much controversy (especially on this site), ‘Smallville’s’ Kristin Kreuk has landed the role to play Catherine in the CW’s reboot version of ‘Beauty and the Beast.’

Although Kreuk may be best known for her role as Lana Lang in ‘Smallville,’ she also appeared as Hannah in several episodes of ‘Chuck’ and starred in the movie ‘Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.’ Kreuk has been offered many pilot opportunities this season and was even offered the part of Beauty in ABC’s version of the tale but opted to take on this role.

Just in case you haven’t heard, the CW is in the process of developing their own version of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ which will be loosely based on the highly popular 80’s CBS series. This show is being described as a “modern-day romantic love story with a procedural twist.”  Here, Catherine (who will be played by Kreuk) is a “tough-minded” NYPD homicide detective who is haunted after witnessing her mother’s murder and the killers’ quick demise at the hands of a “Beast.”  After years of searching, Catherine finally finds this Beast known as Vincent Koslow, the survivor of a military experiment that went disastrously wrong. She gets to know Vincent and inevitably becomes the protector of his secret life as a superhero.

Surprisingly enough, Ron Koslow, who was the creator of the original series, will be executive producing this project as well as the producers of the original series Paul Junger Witt and C. Anthony Thomas.  The writing team of Jennifer Levin and Sherri Cooper (‘Unforgettable’, ‘Brothers and Sisters’) not only wrote the pilot but will also be wearing executive producer hats. Gary Fleder (‘Life on Mars’, ‘October Road’) has been hired to direct.

The jury is still out on this project. While I did enjoy the original CBS version, I’m hesitant to fully come on board with what the CW is developing. I do like Kreuk as the casting choice for Catherine but do we really need Vincent to be a superhero? Any day now we should hear who will fit the role of the Beast and that may sway me… maybe not. So stay tuned!