It’s alive! According to The Hollywood Reporter, CBS has recruited (or should we say reanimated?) Ryan Phillippe to headline Alive, their contemporary re-imagining of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Despite his former status as a teen heartthrob, he’ll play the show’s version of the famous monster.
Phillippe most recently starred on USA’s Shooter, based on the Mark Wahlberg film of the same name and adapted from the novel Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter. The show aired for three seasons from 2016 to 2018. Apart from 2004’s Crash, Phillippe hasn’t had many noteworthy film roles since his late ‘90s heyday. However, he did make his directorial debut with 2014’s Catch Hell.
THR also offered some new details about the show’s premise. Phillippe will play Mark Escher, a San Francisco homicide detective assumed to have perished in an attack in his home. He resurfaces after six months, but appears noticeably different to those around him, including his wife, Elizabeth. In addition to his downtrodden disposition, Escher is plagued by visions of the case he was working on before he died.
RELATED: CBS Turns Frankenstein Into a Cop Drama
Seeking answers, he and Elizabeth look for the person responsible, Victor Frankenstein, who also happens to be Elizabeth’s ex. Described as “brilliant, odd, [and] driven,” Victor has spent an unspecified time abroad evading the scrutiny of an ethics board. Moreover, he’s hard at work on a “cutting-edge project” that presumably has ties to Escher’s resurrection.
Katrina Law will star alongside Phillippe on the series as Elizabeth. Law is perhaps best known for her role as Mira on Starz’ Spartacus: Blood and Sand and Spartacus: Vengeance. She also played Nyssa al Ghul on several episodes of Arrow. Additionally, Mad Men alum Aaron Staton has been enlisted to co-star as Dr. Frankenstein.
How do you think the cast is shaping up so far for CBS’ Alive? Give us your impressions in the comment section below!
