We’ve been telling you about the upcoming ABC summer series based on Stephen King‘s novel Under the Dome, most recently with quite a bit of casting news. Now we have even more news about roles that have been filled, and just as before, when we learn about casting we learn about the characters we’ll be meeting in the series.
Aisha Hinds, who played fake exorcist Miss Jeanette on True Blood, Agent Loomis on Dollhouse, and one of the Nigerian nuns on Lost, will be joining her former Detroit 1-8-7 castmate Natalie Martinez in the upcoming series. She’ll be playing Carolyn Hill, a powerful Los Angeles entertainment attorney who will be in the wrong place at the absolute wrong time, driving through Chester’s Mill when the dome comes down. TVLine reported the news, and said that Hill will be with her partner and that the drive they’re on is to take their teenage daughter to a camp for troubled youth.
Also joining the cast is another True Blood alumni, Dean Norris. Okay, most of you would know him better from Breaking Bad, or maybe the myriad of other parts he’s played over the years, but he did play one of Newlin’s henchmen before Newlin was turned. In Under the Dome, according to TVLine, he’ll be playing Big Jim, the successful owner of Chester’s Mill’s used car dealership and also a town councilman, an office he takes very seriously. Hmm, I wonder if Big Jim is the politician father of disturbed teen Junior Rennie that we told you about last month.
Finally, the third newly-announced member of the cast is Cloverfield‘s Mike Vogel, brought on board to play what is described by EW as the “lead role,” that of Dale “Barbie” Barbara, an Army veteran who arrives in the small town of Chester’s Mill on a mysterious mission, obviously before the dome appears. Ooo. There on a mysterious mission. And then a giant force field dome comes down over the town. A military man. I’m suspicious already.
Although we know that the series has been given a 13-episode order, it still isn’t completely clear whether this will be a one-off series that is meant to conclude after the 13 episodes or if that is only a first season order. I’m hoping for a one-off series with a nice tidy conclusion. A great way to spend our summer Monday nights.
Under the Dome, starring Mike Vogel, Dean Norris, Aisha Hinds, Britt Robertson, Alexander Koch, Natalie Martinez, Colin Ford, Jolene Purdy, and Nicholas Strong, premieres on Monday, June 24 at 10/9c on CBS.
