CBS continues casting its 13-episode miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s 2009 sci-fi novel “Under The Dome,” directed by Niels Arden Oplev (the Dane who directed the original “Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”) from at least one teleplay by Brian K. Vaughn (“Lost”). And given the latest casting news, I sense there are big changes afoot.
From Deadline Hollywood:
[Jolene Purdy (“Donnie Darko,” “Glee”)] will play Dodee, a brilliant, eccentric engineer at the local radio station who will draw on her unique skills in an effort to make contact with the world outside the dome. [Nicholas Strong (“Nashville”)] will play Phil, a popular radio DJ and indie rock fanatic, a charismatic figure with a dark secret.
There’s a Sweetbriar Rose waitress named Dodee Sanders in the book, but did she demonstrate superior engineering skills?
And there’s a really unbalanced meth chef named Phil Bushey in the book -- but did he also work as a popular disc jockey? The Phil I think I remember was hidden away at a Christian radio station, but would have had only the slimmest chance of garnering a big indie-rock radio following.
“Under The Dome,” for those just joining us, tells the tale of a small Maine municipality suddenly and mysteriously enclosed by a transparent but inescapable force field, has a lot of characters in it.
Purdy and Strong join previously cast Alex Koch, who will play Big Jim Rennie’s piece-of-shit son Junior, and Natalie Martinez (“Detroit 1-8-7,” “End of Watch”), who will play ambitious deputy Linda Everett. Big roles like car dealer Big Jim, newspaper editor Julia Shumway and war vet Dale Barbara have not yet been cast. CBS launches the miniseries June 24.
Find all of Deadline’s story on the casting here
