Fans of Anthony Stewart Head will hopefully get to see their favorite Watcher on the small screen again as the CW network has tapped the actor to play the head of the royal family in the pilot ‘The Selection.’
Head is quite an accomplished actor and has appeared in numerous films and television series such as ‘Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance,’ ‘Free Agents’ (both the UK and the short lived US versions), ‘Little Britain’ and recently as King Uther Pendragon in ‘Merlin.’ But it’s his role as Giles, the beloved Watcher of Buffy Summers in ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ that most American fans know him from.
‘The Selection’ is based on the book by Kiera Cass and is set 300 years in the future. Described as a Hunger Games’ meets ‘The Bachelor’ type of series, it will star Yael Grobglas as America Singer, a young working class women chosen by lottery to participate in a competition to win the Royal Prince Maxon’s hand (Michael Malarkey) and become the nation’s next queen. As she participates in the cutthroat competition (which frankly when you get 25 woman all vying for a crown prince in a competition, cutthroat is putting it mildly), she is also thrown into palace intrigue and politics as a budding rebellion is brewing to topple the Royals. All the while, she tries to remain true to herself, her family and her true love. This sounds like epic soap opera at its best, don’t you think?
Head will don the crown again, this time as King Clarkson who tries to steer his son Maxon to choosing a bride based on political alliance rather than true love.
This is the second pilot that is being filmed for this project. ‘The Selection’ was green lit last year and while the network liked the idea, they apparently didn’t like the outcome of the pilot and decided to start all over again with a new cast. In this case, Grobglass replaced Aimee Teagarden as the lead actress and Marlarky replaced Ethan Peck as the bachelor prince. Head replaced Martin Donovan who originally had the role of the King.
Hopefully this version will be something that will be seen on the CW as Head is a wonderful addition to any series. Pilots are a funny thing as just because they have made, it doesn’t guarantee that a series will be ordered. In fact, only a handful of pilots that are made actually get the green light to become a series.
What do you think? Would you like to see Head back on the small screen and is ‘The Selection’ worthy to be placed in the CW Fall lineup?
Source: THR
