Skip to main content

Casting Couch: Parker Posey to Take on "Jezebel James"

So it seems my little campaign to get Lauren Graham to play the lead in Amy Sherman-Palladino's new comedy pilot, The Return of Jezebel James, didn't exactly get off the ground.

But no matter. While Graham's recently been upped to producer over on Gilmore Girls (making the possibility of her signing the contract to do Season Eight more likely), Sherman-Palladino has found a different leading lady for Jezebel James, one that you wouldn't ordinarily expect to sign on to a multi-camera half-hour comedy.

Yes, ladies and gents, I am talking about the one and only Parker Posey.

Posey (Best in Show, Party Girl, and a zillion other films I love) will play Sarah, a successful children's book editor who, after learning that she can't conceive a child, tries to convince her hellion sister to carry the baby for her. She joins the already cast Scott Cohen, who plays her boyfriend (and lifelong bachelor) Marcus.

"I can't believe it's happening," Sherman-Palladino told the Hollywood Reporter. "Because it's a comedy, the character runs the gamut of emotions from laughing to flipping out to breaking your heart in 22 minutes, and only one in a zillion people has enough skill and charm to pull that off. Parker Posey is that person."

Sherman-Palladino says she and hubby Daniel sent the script for Jezebel James to Posey despite the indie actress turning down every other pilot script she'd ever been offered over the years. The rest, as the say, is history.

Personally, I think it's fantastic casting and Posey will definitely bring the character of Sarah to live. But I am still trying to work my head around how this layered, brilliantly nuanced script will work in the vein of a multi-camera, laugh track-enhanced sitcom. (Ouch.)

Comments

Anonymous said…
I love it!!

I'd been off her lately (don't know why, but she's been bugging me), but I recently remembered why I once loved her so after seeing her in For You Consideration (I thought she was one of the only bright spots in an otherwise lackluster film).
Yay! Excellent casting. I am now very excited to see this show come together.
Anonymous said…
Does anyone know when the pilot for Jezebel James will be shooting?
Jace Lacob said…
Anonymous,

Last I heard, they hadn't nailed down a shooting date (or determined whether it would shoot in Los Angeles or New York), though that will change now that Parker Posey's on board.

Stay tuned.
Anonymous said…
I have it from a very reliable source that production begins in New York mid September through December 07.
Anonymous said…
We just went to the shooting of episode 5 in Astoria, NY at Kaufman Studios. I think they are shooting mostly on Friday evenings.
Anonymous said…
This show is finally going to premiere in March! Friday the 14th at 8pm - looks like they're running 2 episodes in a row. Check it out - can't wait to see amy sherman-palladinos new show!

Popular posts from this blog

What's Done is Done: The Eternal Struggle Between Good and Evil on the Season Finale of "Lost"

Every story begins with thread. It's up to the storyteller to determine just how much they need to parcel out, what pattern they're making, and when to cut it short and tie it off. With last night's penultimate season finale of Lost ("The Incident, Parts One and Two"), written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, we began to see the pattern that Lindelof and Cuse have been designing towards the last five seasons of this serpentine series. And it was only fitting that the two-hour finale, which pushes us on the road to the final season of Lost , should begin with thread, a loom, and a tapestry. Would Jack follow through on his plan to detonate the island and therefore reset their lives aboard Oceanic Flight 815 ? Why did Locke want to kill Jacob? What caused The Incident? What was in the box and just what lies in the shadow of the statue? We got the answers to these in a two-hour season finale that didn't quite pack the same emotional wallop of previous season

Pilot Inspektor: CBS' "Smith"

I may just have to change my original "What I'll Be Watching This Fall" post, as I sat down and finally watched CBS' new crime drama Smith this weekend. (What? It's taken me a long time to make my way through the stack of pilot DVDs.) While it's on following Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars on Tuesday nights (10 pm ET/PT, to be exact), I'm going to be sure to leave enough room on my TiVo to make sure that I catch this compelling, amoral drama. While one can't help but be impressed by what might just be the most marquee-friendly cast in primetime--Ray Liotta, Virginia Madsen, Jonny Lee Miller, Amy Smart, Simon Baker, and Franky G all star and Shohreh Aghdashloo has a recurring role--the pilot's premise alone earned major points in my book: it's a crime drama from the point of view of the criminals, who engage in high-stakes heists. But don't be alarmed; it's nothing like NBC's short-lived Heist . Instead, think of it as The Italian

The Daily Beast: "How The Killing Went Wrong"

While the uproar over the U.S. version of The Killing has quieted, the show is still a pale imitation of the Danish series on which it is based. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "How The Killing Went Wrong," in which I look at how The Killing has handled itself during its second season, and compare it to the stunning and electrifying original Danish series, Forbrydelsen , on which it is based. (I recently watched all 20 episodes of Forbrydelsen over a few evenings.) The original is a mind-blowing and gut-wrenching work of genius. It’s not necessary to rehash the anger that followed in the wake of the conclusion last June of the first season of AMC’s mystery drama The Killing, based on Søren Sveistrup’s landmark Danish show Forbrydelsen, which follows the murder of a schoolgirl and its impact on the people whose lives the investigation touches upon. What followed were irate reviews, burnished with the “burning intensity of 10,000 white-hot suns