UPDATE: I hear another actress has been added to the list of those testing for the lead in Marvel/Netflix‘s Jessica Jones series, The Divide star Marin Ireland, who just became available after the WEtv drama was cancelled. I’ve also updated the list of candidates for the part of Luke Cage with a third name, Cleo Anthony.
PREVIOUSLY: I hear Marvel is assembling a field of actresses invited to test for the lead of the company’s straight-to-series drama Jessica Jones for Netflix. I hear it includes Krysten Ritter, Alexandra Daddario, Teresa Palmer and Jessica De Gouw. All fall within the 25-33 age range listed on the breakdowns for the role.
Spearheaded by Melissa Rosenberg, the 13-episode drama — the second in a four-series Netflix-Marvel deal — centers on Jessica Jones, a superhero suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, which leads to her hanging up her costume and opening her own detective agency, where she ends up helping people and assisting other superheroes.
I also heard three names mentioned as being in consideration for the male lead Luke Cage: Crisis‘ Lance Gross and The Good Wife, The Following‘s Mike Colter and Cleo Anthony (Transparent). Cage is designed to appear in 6-7 episodes of Jessica Jones and then topline his own series, the fourth in the Netflix-Marvel package that includes Daredevil, starring Charlie Cox; Jessica Jones; Iron Fist; and Luke Cage. The characters from the four shows band together for a miniseries to close out the storylines.
Ritter comes from a similar comedy background as Chris Pratt, the star of the latest Marvel hit superhero franchise, Guardians Of The Galaxy. While she recently did several comedy pilots and series, including ABC’s Don’t Trust The B—-, Ritter also had a role on the dark AMC drama Breaking Bad.
Daddario, Palmer and De Gouw all have genre credentials. Daddario is known for her roles as Annabeth in the Percy Jackson movie franchise and the lead in Texas Chainsaw 3D. (She also recurred on White Collar, Parenthood and True Detective.) Australian Palmer did The Grudge 2, I Am Number Four, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Warm Bodies, while fellow Aussie De Gouw starred on NBC’s Dracula and plays the Huntress on the CW’s Arrow.
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