The cast of ‘Penny Dreadful: City of Angels’ continues to fill out. The new series, which will also air on Showtime, home of the original, is once again the brainchild of creator John Logan, but shifts the action from Victorian London to Los Angeles in 1938, just before World War II. It was previously announced that Daniel Zovatto (above) will play the main character, Tiago Vega, a police detective who is “investigating a grisly murder that becomes an epic story that reflects the rich history of Los Angeles.” ‘City of Angels’ is being referred to as a “spiritual descendant” of the first ‘Penny Dreadful’, so while it may capture some of the same flavor, it may not actually pick up any of the characters or storylines from the first incarnation.
Zovato starred on the HBO family drama ‘Here and Now’ with Holly Hunter and Tim Robbins, who played his character Ramon Bayer-Boatwright’s adopted parents. He also appeared as Jonah in the acclaimed film ‘Ladybird’, the horror movie ‘Don’t Breathe’, on ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ and ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’
Joining Zovatto will be Johnathan Nieves and Jessica Garza who will portray Tiago’s younger siblings. Nieves will play Mateo Vega, who is described as both “volatile’ and “essentially goodhearted.” “He lacks the clear strength and ambition of Tiago and is vulnerable to both his own capricious emotions and influences around him.”
Nieves has mainly worked in theater, but has appeared on ‘New Amsterdam’, ‘Better Call Saul’, ‘Shameless’, and ‘Chicago Fire’.
Garza most recently portrayed Penelope Guerrero on USA’s TV adaptation of ‘The Purge’. Prior to that, she starred as Anabel Ortiz on the History Channel’s ‘Six’. Among her other TV credits are ‘Modern Family’, ‘Pure Genius’, and ‘NCIS’.
On ‘City of Angels’, Garza will portray the youngest sibling Josefina, a quiet wallflower, who also “possesses a powerful spirit waiting to be unleashed.”
Among the events that ‘City of Angels’ will explore are the building of the city’s first freeways, the earliest days of radio evangelism and increasing cloak and dagger action as the Third Reich rises to power overseas, with an eye on the U.S. It has also been said that the show will be influenced by “deep traditions of Mexican-American folklore” and would explore “an exciting mix of the supernatural and the combustible reality of the period, creating new occult myths and moral dilemmas within a genuine historical backdrop.”
According to Logan:
“Penny Dreadful: City of Angels will have a social consciousness and historical awareness that we chose not to explore in the Penny Dreadful London storylines. We will now be grappling with specific historical and real-world political, religious, social and racial issues. In 1938, Los Angeles was facing some hard questions about its future and its soul. Our characters must do the same.”
Showtime has not yet announced how many episodes will make up the first season, or when it will be released. Check back for updates!
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
