CBS All Access’ adaptation of Stephen King’s ‘The Stand’ has nabbed two big names to topline the cast– Alexander Skarsgård and Whoopi Goldberg. They join the previously announced cast of James Marsden, Amber Heard, Odessa Young, and Henry Zaga. In addition, it was also announced that Jovan Adepo, Owen Teague, Brad William Henke, and Daniel Sunjata has also been cast. Rocker Marilyn Manson will also appear in the miniseries and is working on the music.
Goldberg announced her casting on her chat show ‘The View’, during a visit from King, himself, who was also there to promote ‘It: Chapter Two’. Goldberg will fittingly portray the 108-year-old prophet Mother Abagail, the leader of what’s left of humanity against the evil force that is Randall Flagg, the Dark Man. Skarsgård is playing that role.
Goldberg is a rare EGOT, having won an Emmy (for ‘The View’), Grammy (‘Whoopi Goldberg: Direct from Broadway’), Oscar (‘Ghost’), and Tony Award (‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’, producer). Though she has hundreds of credits on her resumé, these days she spends most of her time hosting ‘The View’ and doing voice work.
Skarsgård recently won a Golden Globe and an Emmy for his performance on HBO’s ‘Big Little Lies’. He can currently be seen on Showtime’s new series ‘On Becoming a God in Central Florida’. Of course, many still remember his career-making role as vampire Eric Northman on HBO’s ‘True Blood’. His brother Bill has made quite a name for himself as Pennywise in the two ‘It’ movies, and as “The Kid” on the King-inspired Hulu series ‘Castle Rock’.
Marsden is playing the main protagonist of ‘The Stand’, Stu Redman. Heard play’s one of Flagg’s acolytes, Nadine Cross, with Young as intuitive pregnant woman, Frannie Goldsmith, and Zaga as the deaf-mute Nick Andros.
Just this year, Adepo has been seen in Netflix’s acclaimed miniseries ‘When They See Us’, Facebook Watch’s ‘Sorry For Your Loss’, and ‘Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan’ on Amazon. On ‘The Stand’, he plays Larry Underwood, “a young musician with a taste for fame, as well as illegal substances. When the plague hits, he is forced to confront his demons as he makes his way to the new world.”
Teague played one of Henry Bowers’ goons, Patrick Hockstetter, in ‘It: Chapter One’, and he returned as the zombie version in ‘It: Chapter Two’. He will also be seen in the new HBO miniseries ‘Mrs. Fletcher’. On ‘The Stand’, he plays Harold Lauder. “After the superflu ravages his town, Harold goes in search of others with fellow survivor Frannie Goldsmith. While his intentions are good, jealousy and his infatuation with Frannie threaten to lead him down a dark path.”
Henke portrays Tom Cullen, “Nick Andros’ traveling companion who is developmentally disabled due to a terrible fall as a child. A sweet soul, he will be instrumental in their fight for survival.” He may be best remembered for portraying the sadistic chief corrections officer Desi Piscatella, on ‘Orange is the New Black’.
Sunjata’s role is that of Cobb, “a member of the military tasked with supervising Stu Redman as the government searches for a cure during the outbreak of the superflu.” Most recently, Sunjata appeared as Simon on ‘Happy!’ and Danny on ‘Manifest’.
Josh Boone wrote the screenplay for ‘The Stand’ with Ben Cavell, and will be directing the miniseries. Check back for updates as they become available. What do you think of the cast so far?
Source: Deadline
