paul sparks
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Actor Paul Sparks has been hired to replace Garret Hedlund on the second season of Hulu’s ‘Castle Rock’, its hit mashup of the works of Stephen King.  Hedlund had been cast to play John “Ace” Merrill, the role portrayed by Kiefer Sutherland in ‘Stand By Me’.  On ‘Castle Rock’, Ace will be taking over his uncle Pop’s businesses and threatening a fragile peace with nearby Jerusalem’s Lot.  Pop will be played by Tim Robbins.  The decision to recast after a different creative direction was determined for the character.  Hedlund had already filmed a “handful” of scenes, which will now be reshot.

 

RELATED: Stephen King Says Forget “All That Easter Egg Stuff” To Best Enjoy ‘Castle Rock’

 

The character Ace not only appeared in ‘The Body’, the short story that inspired ‘Stand By Me’, but also the novel ‘Needful Things’.  Robbins’ character Pop, appeared in the book ‘The Sun Dogs’.  Robbins previously starred in ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ which was based on King’s novella ‘Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption’.

In Season 2 of Castle Rock, a feud between warring clans comes to a boil when budding psychopath Annie Wilkes, Stephen King’s nurse from hell, gets waylaid in Castle Rock.

Lizzy Caplan will portray Wilkes, the antagonist of ‘Misery’, previously portrayed by Kathy Bates, who won an Oscar for the 1990 film adaptation.  Elsie Fisher portrays Annie’s daughter Joy.

In addition, Season 2 will feature Yusra Warsama, Barkhad Abdi, and Matthew Alan as new characters created for the show.  Warsama portrays Dr. Nadia Omar, “the Harvard-trained Somali medical director of a rural hospital in Jerusalem’s Lot whose rational and scientific mind will be put to the test.”  Abdi appears as Abdi Omar, “Nadia’s tough, older brother who leads the charge to build a Somali community center that will deepen the roots of his people in Maine.”  Alan’s character, Chris Merrill, is “Pop’s nephew and Ace’s brother who struggles to keep the peace between the Merrills and the Somali community.”

Obviously, production has begun on Season 2, but Hulu has not yet announced when fans will be able to stream it.  Check back for updates!

 

Source: Deadline