Netflix’s already-in-production comedy ‘Space Force’ has added three new cast members to an already impressive cast, fronted by Steve Carell and John Malkovich. They will now be joined by Noah Emmerich, Fred Willard, and Jessica St. Clair. Carell stars as Mark R. Naird, “a General tapped by the White House to lead a new branch of the Armed Forces with the goal of putting American ‘Boots on the Moon’ by 2024.” Carell co-created the show with Greg Daniels (‘The Office’, ‘King of the Hill’).
Emmerich will portray the… *ahem* interestingly named Kick Grabaston, Naird’s old commanding officer, who is now the U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff. Jealous of Naird’s new position, he does “everything in his considerable power to make Naird’s life difficult.”
Previously, Emmerich starred as Stan Beeman on ‘The Americans’. More recently, he was seen in Nat Geo’s miniseries ‘The Hot Zone’, and Netflix’s ‘The Spy’.
Willard is making a habit of playing the father of fellow funnymen on sitcoms. On ‘Space Force’, he will play Carell’s character’s father, coincidentally named Fred Naird. He is described as “an intelligent but aging man somewhat overwhelmed by the responsibility of taking care of his senile wife.”
Willard also recurs on ‘Modern Family’ as Frank Dunphy, the father of Ty Burrell’s Phil. He can also be recognized for memorable roles in comedies like ‘Best in Show’, ‘Anchorman’, and ‘Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle’.
Finally, St. Clair will play Kelly King, a civilian contractor helping Naird construct his new base in Colorado.
St. Clair can currently be seen on the ABC sitcom ‘American Housewife’ as Chloe Brown Mueller, and she will appear in the upcoming film ‘Like A Boss’ with Rose Byrne, Jennifer Coolidge, Tiffany Haddish, Salma Hayek, and Billy Porter.
Interestingly, St. Clair was cast to recur on another space comedy series, HBO’s ‘Avenue 5’, but it looks as though she is no longer attached to that project.
Malkovich co-stars as Dr. Adrian Mallory. The regular cast also includes Tawny Newsome as helicopter pilot Angela Ali, Ben Schwartz as F. Tony Scarapiducci, and Diana Silvers as Mark Naird’s daughter, Erin Naird.
In recurring roles, the series also features Jimmy O. Yang as Doctor Chan Kaifang, and Alex Sparrow as Yuri ‘Bobby’ Telatovich, “A charming observer from the Russian Government.”
‘Space Force’ is now filming and should arrive on Netflix in 2020.
Source: Collider
