Mehcad Brooks (Necessary Roughness, True Blood) is set to co-star opposite Melissa Benoist in CBS’ pilot Supergirl. Based on the characters from DC Comics, the project, from Warner Bros. TV and studio-based Berlanti Prods., centers on Kara Zor-El (Benoist) who is embracing her superhuman abilities.
Brooks will play James Olsen, a photographer at CatCo, the media company where Kara (Benoist) works. He has recently been living and working in National City, though the reason is still a secret.
Brooks will play James Olsen, a photographer at CatCo, the media company where Kara (Benoist) works. He has recently been living and working in National City, though the reason is still a secret.
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I'm okay with this if all the characters on Supergirl call him "Eggs."
ReplyDeleteAnyone else can't wait to see the twitter response to this?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure everyone will remain objective and open-minded as always, right?
ReplyDeleteCool Olsen is gonna be black.
ReplyDeleteSo here for this casting! I like Mehchad.
ReplyDeleteOf course!....
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, twitter has always been a beacon of tolerance and understanding.
ReplyDeletemeets the POC sidekick requirement
ReplyDeletedifferent casting choice but great, but is he the male lead? i hope so
ReplyDeleteJust about every response to this has been extremely frustrating. He's an amazing actor and I can't wait to see him as the male lead, but apparently the casting choice was either obnoxious or obvious. It couldn't possibly be because he was the best man for the job.
ReplyDeleteRight, because whenever they add someone who isn't white to a show, it's just to meet a quota. Give me a break.
ReplyDeleteso it's confirmed? that he's the male lead?
ReplyDeletePretty much. Jimmy Olsen is Kara's love interest in this show.
ReplyDeleteIf he is written really badly then yes that is all he will be. But I hope that we get a Felicity type effect ie a small role but due to the actress and the writing became a great and integral role to the show.
ReplyDeleteAWESOME!!!
ReplyDeleteAs usual, CBS is late to the comic book trend and sadly late to diversity in television. But better late than never.
ReplyDeleteHere is a break down of all the characters. You decide.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.spoilertv.com/2014/10/supergirl-casting-call-for-kara-zor-el.html
Kara Zor-El aka Kara Danvers
the show is eyeing Caucasian females, age 22 to 26, to play 24. As the series’ mythology goes, Kara at age 12 was sent from her dying home planet of Krypton to Earth, where she was taken in by the Danvers, a foster family who taught her to be careful with her extraordinary powers. After repressing said skills for more than a decade, Kara is forced to bust out her super moves in public during an unexpected disaster. Energized by her heroism for the first time in her life, she begins embracing her abilities in the name of helping the people of her city, earning herself a super moniker along the way.
Alexandra “Alex” Danvers
The other lead role currently being cast is that of 26-year-old Alexandra “Alex” Danvers, Kara’s gorgeous, brilliant, science-minded foster sister. Growing up, Alex was partly jealous of her sibling yet also fascinated by her abilities, prompting Alex to learn as much as she could about alien anthropology, sociology and culture. Today, Alex works for a secret government organization and, alongside her heroic sis, will face many challenges, both mundane and super.
CAT GRANT
The project is eyeing females in their 40s, open ethnicity, to play the founder of CatCo, a media conglomerate that Cat built from the ground up. Kara (Supergirl’s mild-mannered alter ego) will work as a personal assistant to Cat, who is described as “J.Lo by way of Anna Wintour.”
JAMES OLSEN
In his late 20s/early 30s, open ethnicity, James is a smart, worldly and (duh) attractive photographer for CatCo. Though an alpha male, his salt-of-the-earth nature elicits a huge ol’ crush from Kara.
WINSLOW ‘WYNN’ SCHOTT
This twentysomething tech whiz/Comic-Con stalwart toils for CatCo as a programmer, unaware of his own (toying?) potential. Unware of her secret, he carries a torch for Kara, whom he lives next door to.
HANK HENSHAW
As an upstart CIA agent, Hank grew obsessed with intergalactic intel. Now in his 40s and lording over the DEO (Department of Extra-Normal Operations), he is on high alert when Supergirl reveals herself, worried that her otherworldly abilities pose a threat to humankind.
If he's neglected by the producers and gets little character development, then his relegation to token sidekick becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, which would be a shame, since he's a good actor. I always have to wonder who demands this "POC sidekick requirement"? I don't know many non-white viewers who would ever watch a show just because there's a person of color floating around in the promos. People can tell the difference between quality and quantity and a lazily-written character isn't going to please anyone, regardless of color. Furthermore, there really is no shortage of talented non-white actors in Hollywood, meaning that if casting, character development and allocation of screen time were truly fair and color-blind, then most casts would be diverse without any effort, However, if directors keep reserving their expendible, badly-written roles for non-white actors, all it does is create the illusion that they had to lower the bar in order to achieve diversity, which is complete BS. It also perpetuates the image of non-whites being expendible (the Vampire Diaries is the perfect example of this) which ultimately does more harm than good. If more non-white actors are being hired in more substantial roles, it's because producers are finally realizing that it won't have a negative effect on ratings.
ReplyDeleteThis will finish on the CW I'm almost sure.
ReplyDeleteI mean I'm maybe "overreacting" but the cast is to "childish" for me. Thought they would go a bit more serious. I mean the script could be quite dark but still don't see it being a show for CBS.
ReplyDeleteThe only other show to ever transfer from being a CBS project to a CW series was Ringer and that didn't turn out too well.
ReplyDeleteIsn't he too buff for the role?
ReplyDeleteyeah, the shape of things to come...Is there ever gonna be asian or latino guy as a lead role in a series like this? its a new trend in moves/tv series to make white character black. Other ethnic groups seems not to be important. Maybe they should make her black and let him stay white guy? But that change wouldnt be too good for some people. Or maybe they should tv show about some black superhero, one that was already black in the comic, I know this particular guy is not a superhero, but he is quite known character from comic universe. Well, somebody is gonna be happy, still I think this show gonna be another cancellation choice.
ReplyDeleteDidn't like him on Desperate Housewives, True Blood, or Dollhouse. Hopefully this is the show I change my opinion of him on, because I got really excited for this after Melissa Benoist's pleasantly surprising casting. I'll give him a chance, but this isn't helping my excitement.
ReplyDeleteI think its difference from the rest of the CBS lineup is the whole point. CBS has been trying for years to find programming that will skew their demo younger (only BBT has worked) so this being a very non-CBS kind of show is likely by design. CBS may even use Big Bang Theory as a lead-in.
ReplyDeleteJoan Watson
ReplyDeleteWe'll see, not a fan of the lead but I'll check it out for sure.
ReplyDeleteDollhouse? i don't remember him
ReplyDeleteHe was only in one episode, the one with the virus on the college campus. But I re watch Dollhouse a lot, so I remember pretty much everything.
ReplyDeleteCool casting. His other roles have been meh but he was really great on Necessary Roughness.
ReplyDeleteoh right i remember that episode not him though
ReplyDelete