British actor Max Brown has been added to the cast of the CW’s version of ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ Unlike the ABC version which is a retelling of the classic fairy tale, this version is a reboot of the CBS series that was popular in the 1980’s and starred Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman.

This version, however, has Catherine (Kristin Kreuk) as 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 (Jay Ryan), 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 along with Vincent’s best friend T.J. (Austin Basis). Brown will play the role of Evan, a medical examiner who works with Catherine and has a slight crush on the detective.

If Brown looks familiar, that’s because he’s appeared on Showtime’s ‘The Tudors’ as Edward Seymore and in the BBC shows ‘Mi-5’ and ‘Mistresses’ (the latter being aired recently on BBC America).

Gary Fleder, who happens to be the executive producer of ABC’s ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ has been hired to direct the CW pilot (confused yet?). One thing that this show does have for it is that the creator and writer of the original series, Ron Koslow, will be an executive producer along with original EP Paul Junger Witt. The jury is still out on this pilot but the CW is hoping that the series will be the next big hit since the end of ‘Smallville.’

So what do you think of the casting so far?