So much for my Evangeline Lilly prediction. After scooping up Lost‘s Jorge Garcia for his upcoming FOX pilot based on the infamous prison, J.J. Abrams has cast the lead female role for the show. Sarah Jones has been featured in a number of TV series including House, Justified, and Sons of Anarchy. This (hopefully) will be her breakout role and cement her as Abrams’ latest leading female powerhouse (she follows Felicity‘s Keri Russell, Alias‘ Jennifer Garner, Lost‘s Evangeline Lilly, Fringe‘s Anna Torv, and we must include Undercovers‘ Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Jones will play Rebecca Madsen, “a smart, thoughtful and a little obsessive police officer.” She’s gorgeous–but then again, Abrams’ knows how to pick his leading ladies.
Also joining the show are Jonny Coyne (Undercovers) and Jason Butler Harner (Fringe). Coyne will play Alcatraz Warden Edwin James and Harner is Associate Warden E.B. Tiller “who enjoys and abuses his power.”
Alcatraz “centers on a group of missing Alcatraz prisoners and guards who reappear in the present day. It chronicles the efforts of a team of FBI agents to track them down and unravel the mystery behind their disappearance thirty years prior.” Abrams, Bryan Burk, and Elizabeth Sarnoff are attatched to the Warner Bros. TV/Bad Robot project. Production begins next month.
Update: More cast additions have been made. According to Deadline, Sam Neill (Happy Town) will play Emerson Hauser, “the head of a government agency who radiates authority and piercing intelligence”; Parminder Nagra (ER) is Hauser’s lab technician, Lucy; Robert Forster (Heroes) is Ray Archer, “a retired detective who is now owner/bartender of a cop hangout bar.” Alcatraz characters are getting cast in rapid succession, so exciting!