Was he hired because his last name would garner extra publicity?
NBC has hired a thirtysomething actor named Jeff Hephner to play the lead in “Playboy,” an hourlong pilot set in and around Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Club of the 1960s.
Jeff, no relation to Hugh, played prominent roles in Fox’s “The O.C.” and The CW’s “Easy Money” and “Hellcats.”
Hephner co-stars in “Playboy” with Amber Heard (“Pineapple Express,” “Zombieland,” “Drive Angry”), David Krumholtz (“Serenity,” “Numb3rs”), Laura Benanti (“Eli Stone”), Naturi Naughton (“Fame”), Jenna Dewan-Tatum (“Step Up,” “The Grudge 2”), and Wes Ramsey (“CSI Miami”).
In “Playboy,” Hephner plays an attorney with ties to organized crime. I predict he will fall hard for the orphaned Bunny from Fort Wayne played by Heard.
Chad Hodge, who created The CW’s short-lived 2006 fugitive-family drama “Runaway” (starring Donnie Wahlberg, Leslie Hope and a 15-year-old Sarah Ramos), scripted the “Playboy” pilot.
Find all of Deadline’s exclusive on the matter here.
