Matthew Macfadyen's TV return, Julia Roberts gets her Tár, and more casting news of the week

Austin Butler, Jeremy Allen White, Ariana DeBose, and Kerry Washington are attached to some big casting updates

By Mary Kate Carr, Emma Keates, Saloni Gajjar, Matt Schimkowitz | March 29, 2024 | 5:21pm

TV News Matthew Macfadyen

Matthew Macfadyen's TV return, Julia Roberts gets her Tár, and more casting news of the week

Austin Butler; Ariana DeBose; Matthew Macfadyen Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images; Karwai Tang/WireImage; Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

It’s been a hell of a busy week for Hollywood when it comes to casting announcements. Case in point: Our relatively lengthy list of major TV shows and movies in development that have found their leading stars. They include Luca Guadagnino’s two major movies, a Succession star’s big return, Jeremy Allen White potentially playing Bruce Springsteen, and a couple of Apple TV+ announcements.

Lily James is playing the Bumble founder in a new film

According to Deadline, Lily James is on board to produce and star in a new film based on the life of Whitney Wolfe Herd, the founder and former CEO of Bumble. Before Bumble, Wolfe Herd worked at Tinder and sued the company for sexual harassment upon her departure. She then founded Bumble as a where female users had to be the ones to send the first message to male users. In 2021, she became the youngest self-made woman billionaire at age 31, per . James, meanwhile, has recently made a name for herself in projects playing real-life subjects, including The Iron Claw and Pam & Tommy. [Mary Kate Carr]

Succession’s Matthew Macfadyen plots his TV return via Peacock

Charlie’s Angels director and star Elizabeth Banks and Succession Emmy winner Matthew Macfadyen are set to co-star in a new series, The Miniature Wife, for Peacock. Based on the Manuel Gonzales short story of the same name, the series is described as a “high-concept marital dramedy examining the power (im)balances between spouses, Lindy (Banks) and Les (Macfadyen), who battle each other for supremacy after a technological accident induces the ultimate relationship crisis,” per Deadline. Both stars will executive produce alongside series creators and showrunners Jennifer Ames and Steve Turner. [Mary Kate Carr]

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The Michael Jackson biopic adds The Vampire Diaries’ Kat Graham

The Michael, directed by Antoine Fuqua, has added a slew of new cast members, many of them in roles music lovers will easily identify. Per Deadline, The Vampire Diaries Kat Graham will play Jackson’s good friend, Diana Ross, while Insecure’s Kendrick Sampson will play the legendary producer Quincy Jones. Larenz Tate (Power Book II: Ghost) will play Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, Jessica Sula (Split) will play Jackson’s older sister La Toya, Liv Symone (Power Book III: Raising Kanan) will play iconic Motown artist Gladys Knight, KeiLyn Durrel Jones (How to Die Alone) will play Jackson 5 security guard Bill Bray, and Kevin Shinick will play American Bandstand host Dick Clark. [Mary Kate Carr]

Luca Guadagnino is understandably sticking with Josh O’Connor

Josh O’Connor and Luca Guadagnino are shaping up to be Hollywood’s next iconic . While the duo’s first collaboration, the Zendaya-led tennis film Challengers, hasn’t even hit theaters yet, they’re reportedly already plotting their second. According to , O’Connor is in talks to star in Guadagnino’s new drama, Separate Rooms, and is already brushing up his Italian for the film even though he hasn’t been officially cast in the role. The film, based on a novel of the same name by late Italian author Pier Vittorio Tondelli, follows the story of an Italian writer named Leo (potentially O’Connor) as he mourns the loss of his boyfriend, a German musician named Thomas. [Emma Keates]

The Bob Dylan biopic adds more to an already impressive roster

A whole new band of actors will be joining Timothée Chalamet to play as-of-yet-unknown roles in James Mangold’s Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown. New additions include (The Bikeriders), (Argo), (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), (Daisy Jones & The Six), and (Ozark). They join what is shaping up to be a pretty unparalleled company, which also includes Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro, P.J. Byrne, Eli Brown, Nick Pupo, Big Bill Morganfield, Laura Kariuki, Eric Berryman, David Alan Basche, Joe Tippett, and James Austin Johnson. The film will follow Dylan’s meteoric rise through the folk scene in the early ‘60s. [Emma Keates]

Catherine O’Hara, Kathryn Hahn join Apple TV+ series

A pair of Katherines (though none who spell it that way), are heading to The Studio, a new Apple TV+ comedy series created by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. Catherine O’Hara and Kathryn Hahn lead a slew of new cast members for Rogen and Goldberg’s latest, per The Hollywood Reporter. Joining them are Ike Barinholtz, Chase Sui Wonders, and guest stars Bryan Cranston, Keyla Monterroso Mejia, and Dewayne Perkins. Details around the series are vague, with the official synopsis threatening a series about a “legacy Hollywood movie studio that is trying to survive in a world where it is increasingly difficult for art and commerce to live together.” We can only wonder: Who will survive and what will be left of them? [Matt Schimkowitz]

Alex Garland rounds out the cast for his new film, Warfare

Alex Garland’s highly anticipated Civil War hasn’t even hit theaters yet, but the Annihilation director is already planning his next attack. Warfare, Garland’s second collaboration with military supervisor Ray Mendoza, added (Heartstopper), (Shōgun), (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3), and (True Detective: Night Country) to its cast today in unannounced roles. They join previously announced stars D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Charles Melton, and Joseph Quinn. Further details about the film are still being kept under wraps, but its subject matter should be pretty clear from the title. [Emma Keates]

A Simple Favor 2 gets an expanded cast

Now that we’re officially getting from Paul Feig with Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively returning, more cast members have been added to the sequel. Comedian will reprise her role as Sona from the original, per Deadline. Meanwhile, new characters will be played by Elena Sofia Ricci, Michele Morrone (365 Days), (Minx), (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist), Taylor Ortega (), and Lorenzo de Moor. They join previously announced returning cast members Henry Golding, Andrew Rannells, Bashir Salahuddin, Joshua Satine, Ian Ho, and Kelly McCormack. [Mary Kate Carr]

Alan Ritchson is leading War Machine

Prime Video’s Reacher, Alan Ritchson, is looking to move into leading man territory with War Machine, a new Lionsgate film set up at Netflix. The sci-fi film will be directed by Patrick Hughes (The Hitman’s Bodyguard), who co-wrote the script with James Beaufort (per Deadline). The synopsis: “In the final 24 Hours of the world’s toughest selection process, a team of Army Rangers encounters a threat beyond their imagination.” [Mary Kate Carr]

Leigh Whanell’s Wolf Man adds Sam Jaeger

—or whatever we’re calling it now—just grew with the addition of Sam Jaeger (The Handmaid’s Tale) to Wolf Man. The film, which “follows a family who is being terrorized by a lethal predator,” is a co-production with Blumhouse directed by Leigh Whannell (The Invisible Man) and starring Julia Garner and Christopher Abbott, per Deadline. Ryan Gosling, who was in the film, is on board as an executive producer. [Mary Kate Carr]

Brace yourself: Austin Butler and Darren Aronofsky are teaming up

Austin Butler is, as they say, collecting prestige directors like they’re infinity stones. After recently boarding an Ari Aster joint, the Dune: Part Two star will next become a muse for Darren Aronofsky on the upcoming Caught Stealing, according to Variety. Charlie Huston pens the script based on his novel of the same name; it follows “Hank Thompson, a burned-out former baseball player, as he’s unwittingly plunged into a wild fight for survival in the downtown criminal underworld of ‘90s NYC.” [Mary Kate Carr]

Julianne Hough joins Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride!

Julianne Hough is joining Maggie Gyllenhaal’s ‘30s-era Bride Of Frankenstein riff, The Bride!, although whether or not she’s the reanimated spouse in question is yet to be announced. Hough joins previously announced stars Christian Bale, Jessie Buckley, Peter Sarsgaard, Penelope Cruz, and Annette Bening in the film that’s described as a tale of “a lonely Frankenstein” visiting a man named Dr. Euphronius in Chicago to create a companion for himself. When they succeed, she is “beyond what either of them intended, igniting a combustible romance, the attention of the police, and a wild and radical social movement.” [Emma Keates]

Jeremy Allen White might be playing Bruce Springsteen

Well, he couldn’t let Timothée Chalamet have all the fun, now could he? Jeremy Allen White is in talks to star as the Boss in the latest musical biopic to hit the slate, a film focused on Bruce Springsteen tentatively titled Deliver Me From Nowhere. Based on Warren Zanes’ 2023 book of the same name, the film will presumably focus on the 1982 writing and recording of Nebraska, Springsteen’s first solo effort without the support of the E Street Band. Frankly… we see the vision. [Emma Keates]

Kyle Maclachlan joins Ethan Hawke and Sterlin Harjo’s FX pilot

Reservation Dogs creator Sterlin Harjo has found the cast for his next FX pilot, an Ethan Hawke-starring “Tulsa noir about a guy who knows too much” (via ) tentatively titled The Sensitive Kind. Joining Hawke are Keith David (The Princess and the Frog), Siena East (The Sex Lives of College Girls), Jeanne Tripplehorn (The Gilded Age), Tim Blake Nelson (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs), Scott Shepherd (Killers of the Flower Moon), Tracy Letts (Winning Time: Rise of the Lakers Dynasty), Macon Blair (Reservation Dogs), and Kyle Maclachlan (Twin Peaks). The Sensitive Kind is a reunion for Harjo and Hawke, who also appeared in an episode of Reservation Dogs. [Emma Keates]

Ariana DeBose joins Ke Huy Quan in With Love

Once again, it’s Ariana DeBose’s turn to do the thing. The Oscar-winning West Side Story star is set to star opposite fellow Oscar winner (Everything Everywhere All At Once) in With Love, a new Universal Pictures film from first-time director Jonathan Eusebio. No further details have been revealed about the film as of this writing. [Emma Keates]

Julia Roberts is about to get her Tár on

Luca Guadagnino isn’t one to rest on his laurels. Despite the imminent release of his tennis love triangle film, Challengers, as well as casting rumors swirling around the release of yet another new feature potentially starring Josh O’Connor (also on this list), the Call Me By Your Name director is getting right back to work. It was announced this week that he is also on board to direct screenwriter Nora Garrett’s After The Hunt, with Julia Roberts attached to star. According to , the film is “an intense dramatic thriller about a college professor (Roberts) who finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when a star pupil levels an accusation against one of her colleagues and a dark secret from her past threatens to come to light.” [Emma Keates]

Kerry Washington and Elisabeth Moss are teaming up

Elizabeth Moss and Kerry Washington will play two of three imperfect women in a new Apple TV+ series billed as an “unconventional, psychological thriller” about a crime “that shatters the lives of a decades-long friendship of three women.” “As the investigation unravels, so does the truth about how even the closest relationships can change over time,” the synopsis of the show, based on Araminta Hall’s novel of the same name, continues. Casting is reportedly underway for the third member of this potentially murderous trio, but they’ll have to be pretty perfect themselves to go up against such talented names. [Emma Keates]

Netflix’s Fear Street sequel welcomes a new YA cast

Netflix is continuing its Fear Street series with a new adaptation of R.L. Stine’s 1992 novel, The Prom Queen. The season’s recently announced ensemble cast includes India Fowler (The Nevers), Suzanna Son (The Idol), Fina Strazza (Paper Girls), David Iacono (The Summer I Turned Pretty), Ella Rubin (The Idea of You), Chris Klein (Sweet Magnolias), Lili Taylor (Outer Range), and Katherine Waterston (Perry Mason). The installment’s official logline reads as follows: “The Prom season at Shadyside High is underway and the school’s wolfpack of It Girls is busy with its usual sweet and vicious campaigns for the crown. But when a gutsy outsider is unexpectedly nominated to the court, and the other girls start mysteriously disappearing, the class of ’88 is suddenly in for one hell of a prom night.” [Emma Keates]

J.K. Simmons and Willem Dafoe join Jason Reitman’s SNL movie

Jason Reitman’s SNL 1975 has somehow added even more star power to its incredibly stacked cast of repertory players. Willem Dafoe, J.K. Simmons, Billy Bryk, Joe Chrest, Taylor Gray, and McCabe Gregg are all signed on for the feature, which already boasts an ensemble including Gabriel LaBelle (Lorne Michaels), Cooper Hoffman, Rachel Sennott, Ella Hunt, Lamorne Morris, Dylan O’Brien, Nicholas Braun, Finn Wolfhard, Kaia Gerber and more. According to , Simmons will play comedian Milton Berle, Dafoe will play David Tebet, Chrest will play “Weekend Update” co-creator Herb Sargent, and Gray and Gregg will play Al Franken and Tom Davis respectively. Bryk’s role has not yet been disclosed. [Emma Keates]

Tatiana Maslany is starring in a Stephen King adaptation

loves a good genre show, and we’re all better off for it. The Orphan Black star is leading the cast of The Monkey alongside . Based on a Stephen King short story, the movie follows twin brothers who discover an old monkey toy, and strange things start happening from there. The newly announced cast also includes Christian Convery, Elijah Wood, Sarah Levy, and Rohan Campbell. [Saloni Gajjar]

The Boys star joins Netflix’s medical procedural, Pulse

Netflix is dipping its toes in the medical procedural genre (must be) with Pulse. It follows the employees of Miami’s busiest trauma center—an already chaotic place that goes through unexpected changes when a young ER doctor is promoted to Chief Resident thanks to a provocative relationship. Deadline revealed that The Boys’ Jessie T. Usher, Jessie Yates, Daniela Neves, and Jack Bannon round out the already announced cast, which includes Justina Machado, Willa Fitzgerald, and Colin Woodell. [Saloni Gajjar]

The Final Destination franchise adds a new cast to its sixth movie

is returning for a sixth film titled . The franchise is welcoming new actors into the mix with this movie, including Teo Briones, s Richard Harmon, and Brec Bassinger, who played Stargirl in The CW’s DC Universe. It’s kind of neat to see a major franchise bringing TV stars into the fold, huh? Per THR, the cast also features Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Anna Lore, and Owen Patrick Joyner. Bloodlines is scheduled to release next year to coincide with the first Final Destination’s 25th anniversary. [Saloni Gajjar]

Among Us keeps expanding its stacked voice cast

CBS Studios is going all out for the voice performances of About Us, an animated series based on the video game of the same name. Randall Park, Elijah Wood, Yvette Nicole Brown, and Ashley Johnson, the show has brought on Dan Stevens, Liv Hewson, and Kimiko Glenn. If nothing, at least the stacked cast is as promising as it gets, huh? [Saloni Gajjar]

Saltburn’s Archie Madekwe’s next film is Lurker

The Bear’s Alex Russell has written a new thriller called Lurker about a retail employee, played by Theodore Pellerin, who gets close to a rising music star (played by Saltburn’s Archie Madekwe). As his proximity increases, the situation escalates to a matter of life and death. Lurker’s ensemble includes Havana Rose Liu, Zach Fox, Sunny Suljic, and Daniel Zolghdari. [Saloni Gajjar]