Goran Visnjic Lands The Role Of Dracula On ABC’s ‘The Brides’ Pilot
‘Timeless’ star Goran Visnjic has found another way to move through the centuries, this time by becoming the famed immortal vampire Dracula, in ABC’s pilot ‘The Brides’.
The series is a contemporary reimagining of Dracula tale, described as “a vampire soap about empowered, immortal women and the things they do to maintain wealth, prestige, legacy, and their non-traditional family”. Whilst the focus will be on the three women, Dracula also features in the show, hence today’s casting announcement.
Visnjic’s Count Dracula is the powerful, ageless, and iconic vampire who “turned” each of his three brides. In this new take, Dracula is left for dead at his destroyed castle in the Carpathian mountains while his three wives – Cleo, Renée, and Lily – flee to start a new life together. Although it rather looks like the immortal dark lord was not as dead as they thought…
Along with ‘Timeless’, Visnjic previously starred in ‘ER’, ‘Extant’ and ‘Crossing Lines’, along with popping up more recently in ‘Doctor Who’ as Nikola Tesla, and Hulu series ‘Dollface’. He joins the previously announced cast of Gina Torres, Katherine Reis, Sophia Tatum and Chris Mason.
Gina Torres (‘Firefly’, ‘Suits’) play Cleo Phillips, leader of the Brides. She is an imperious woman with a queenly manner, which is understandable, as she was a queen in her former life who was turned by Dracula after the death of her husband. Now a maven of New York City real estate, Cleo is challenged professionally by a mysterious newcomer, even as her ties to her sisters are dangerously fraying.
Katherine Reis (‘Rise’, ‘Claws’) takes the role of Lily Stevens, the youngest of the three Brides of Dracula. She is a striving singer in New York City whose relationship to a news reporter threatens to tear apart her marriage to her “sisters.” In her former life, she braved the streets of Jack the Ripper’s London, until being… ahem… “rescued” by Dracula.
The middle sister, Renée Pélagie, has yet to be cast, but we do know she runs a top modelling agent in New York City.
Other cast includes Sophia Tatum (‘I Am Not Okay with This’) as Justine Strang, a new-to-town aspiring model who turns up at Renée’s agency. She soon takes this young, hungry, aspiring model under her wing, unaware that Justine may have a past with Dracula as well. Chris Mason (‘Broadchurch’) plays Roland Grant, a real estate mogul arrives in town to challenge Cleo’s supremacy. With secret ties to Dracula, Roland has a personal stake in the destruction of the Brides.
‘The Brides’ is written and developed by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (‘Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’, ‘Riverdale’, ‘Katy Keene’), with Maggie Kiley (‘Dirty John’, ‘Katy Keene’, ‘Riverdale’) set to direct the pilot. Aguirre-Sacasa and Kiley exec produce alongside ‘Arrowverse’s Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter of Berlanti Productions, who produce the potential series. Warner Bros. Television and ABC Studios also produce.
‘The Brides’ is only a pilot right now, but we should know by May 2020 if it’ll move forward. We’ll let you know if/when we hear more.
