Smallscreen News
Eric Roberts leads new cast additions on Starz 'Crash'
By April MacIntyre Jun 12, 2009, 4:09 GMT
Eric Roberts -Starz network\'s series, "Crash," based on the eponymous film by writer/director Paul Haggis, is back for a second season in September, and boasts the addition of Eric Roberts to the cast. © Chris Hatcher / PR Photos
Starz network's series, "Crash," based on the eponymous film by writer/director Paul Haggis, is back for a second season in September, and boasts the addition of Eric Roberts to the cast.
Also joining the show will be Tess Harper, Julie Warner, Dana Ashbrook and Linda Park.
Starz today announced that Dennis Hopper will return as the deeply flawed music mogul, Ben Cendars, on the first original drama series from Starz Entertainment.
The 13 new episodes from the producers of the Academy Award-winning Best Picture and co-produced with Lionsgate, has begun production in Albuquerque, NM.
Andrew Bernstein is directing the season’s first episode, set to debut on Starz Friday, September 18th at 10:00 p.m. (et/pt).
Set in Los Angeles, the series will continue to focus on an ensemble cast of characters. Season two will revolve around the intersecting lives of Angelenos from different social strata, as they crash and collide into each other while seeking their own versions of fulfillment.
Eric Roberts is cast as Seth, a billionaire entrepreneur, who plans to give LA a long desired new professional football team; Dana Ashbrook is cast as Jimmy, a charismatic gambler who plays fast and loose with the law; Linda Park is cast as Maggie, a children’s book author who writes of a joyful life but has trouble living it; Jake McLaughlin is cast as Bo, a former high school pitching ace and shoo-in for the big league, but derailed by career ending injury; Tess Harper portrays his mother Wendy, a middle-class San Fernando Valley shop-owner forever reliving Bo’s glory days; and Julie Warner will play Andrea, an ambitious and manipulative right hand woman to Seth.
Dennis Hopper is the hub of this excellent series, and he reprises his role as legendary record producer Ben Cendars, a rehab grad searching for clues surrounding a personal mysterious death; Ross McCall is former LAPD cop Kenny Battaglia, stripped of his badge and serving as a lowly strip mall security guard; Jocko Sims’ Anthony was Ben’s former driver and protégée, whom Ben turns to for help in his search; Moran Atias, Kenny's siren Inez from last season, has forsaken stripping and is making serious cash working as a hostess at an exclusive men’s club.
“It’s going to be a thrilling season with our returning cast and the new members of our ‘Crash’ family,” says Stephan Shelanski, executive vice president, programming Starz Entertainment. “Eric Roberts is always unpredictable and exciting to watch and Tess Harper is a terrific and highly acclaimed actress. We look forward to an electrifying season with a wonderfully talented cast and crew.”
"The exciting additions to our cast and writing-producing team have opened up the series to a wealth of new dramatic possibilities and we anticipate a very strong second season," said Kevin Beggs, Lionsgate's president of television programming and production.
From Starz:
Headed by executive producer Ira Steven Behr (“The 4400,” “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Homecoming”), the creative team for season two includes executive producers Paul Haggis and Bob Yari, and co-executive producers Bobby Moresco, Ted Nunan, Don Cheadle, Mark Harris, Jorg Westercamp, and Thomas Becker, all of whom were key members of the Oscar-winning movie Crash, as well as consulting producer Glen Mazzara.
New this year with Behr are executive producer James DeMonaco (Staten Island, “The Kill Point”), supervising producers Todd Harthan (“The Kill Point”) and Elizabeth Benjamin (“Bones”), consulting producer Devon Shepard (“Weeds”), and executive story editor Jennifer Schuur (“Big Love”). Lester Berman (Superman, The Postman) is line producer.
