Alexa Davalos, who memorably restored the title character’s heartbeat on Joss Whedon’s vampire detective series “Angel,” has landed the female lead in Frank Darabont’s period cops-and-gangsters pilot “L.A. Noir.”
The series is about the associates and pursuers of 1940s Hollywood gangster Mickey Cohen (still uncast for the pilot, but played in “Bugsy” by Harvey Keitel). It’s based on John Buntin’s “L.A. Noir: The Struggle For The Soul Of America’s Most Seductive City.”
Davalos will star in “Noir” as Jasmine, a hottie with baggage, opposite Milo Ventimiglia (“Heroes”), Jon Bernthal (“The Walking Dead”) and Neal McDonough (“Justified”).
Darabont, writer-director of period prison dramas “The Shawshank Redemption” and “The Green Mile” as well as “The Mist,” masterminded AMC’s “Walking Dead” series until he was fired last summer.
Darabont first worked with Davalos on “The Mist,” in which she was cast as grocery store clerk Sally. She played Kyra in “The Chronicles of Riddick” and Andromeda in “Clash of the Titans.”
On the fourth season of “Angel,” Davalos recurred as sexy Gwen Raiden, who could subdue foes and romantic conquests aliike with her lightning powers.
