Woman lands Brad Pitt’s former lead role in SyFy’s ‘12 Monkeys’
NEW YORK — “Cosmoplis” star Emily Hampshire has been cast in SyFy’s “12 Monkeys” in a role previously played by Brad Pitt. “Hell on Wheels” actor Tom Noonan, meanwhile, will play a mysterious villain.
Both will appear in recurring roles, SyFy announced Tuesday. The network also announced the show will commence production on its 13-episode first season next week in Toronto.
Based on the 1995 Terry Gilliam film, “12 Monkeys” follows a time traveler from the post-apocalyptic future who appears in the present day to destroy the source of a plague. The time traveler, played by Bruce Willis in the movie, is played by Aaron Stanford on the show.
The character meets a fanatical animal rights activist - Pitt in the movie and Hamphire in the show - who is suspected of releasing the virus on behalf of the Army of the Twelve Monkeys.
Noonan plays the face of the enigmatic Army. The Yale alum and former professor is perhaps best known for playing the “Tooth Fairy” serial killer in Michael Mann’s “Manhunter,” the first of three adaptations of Thomas Harris’ “Red Dragon.”
The latest of those adaptations, NBC’s “Hannibal,” also did an interesting character gender switch, reimagining tabloid journalist Freddy Lounds - a man in the book and movie - as a woman.
“Twelve Monkeys” also stars Amanda Schull and Kirk Acevedo.
Information for this report was provided by TheWrap.com.
