‘Adopted’: Shawn Vance, Bruce Campbell & Wendie Malick Lead Cast Of ABC Comedy Pilot

Nellie Andreeva
·6 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: ABC has set the cast for Adopted, its single-camera comedy pilot co-written and executive produced by Jimmy Kimmel. Series co-creator Shawn Vance (The Green Beret’s Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse), whose life inspired the series, will star as himself, along with Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead franchise) and Hot in Cleveland alum Wendie Malick. Also cast as series regulars in the pilot are Maxim Swinton (Halston), Tate Moore (Beautiful Dreamer), Sofia Pernas (Blood & Treasure) and Reyn Doi (Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar). The comedy hails from ABC Studios and Kimmelot, Kimmel’s joint venture with Brent Montgomery’s Wheelhouse Entertainment.

Written and executive produced by Kimmel and The Green Beret’s Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse creators, executive producers and stars Vance and Daril Fannin, Adopted is inspired by a true story. In it, when a Green Beret (Vance) returns home to Texas from military service, he and his family struggle with the challenges of adopting his new brother, a 12-year-old Russian boy (Swinton).

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Vance and Fannin are both military veterans — Vance is a former United States Special forces Green Beret, and Fanin, a former combat army medic. They used their background for their Netflix hybrid scripted/unscripted action comedy series The Green Beret’s Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse, which was executive produced by Matt Damon and Peter Perg.

Vance plays Shawn Voss. Overconfident like his father and anxious like his mother, Shawn is fresh out of the US Army Special Forces and struggling to adapt to civilian life. He believes that anything worth doing is worth over-doing, including his role as Daniel’s mentor a.k.a. “tor-mentor.” Shawn loves to take a military “tough love” approach to life, and often goes too far with his criticisms, even if he has the best of intentions.

Campbell plays Shawn’s dad, John Voss. A goofy, optimistic, carefree, and conservative Dad, John is a red-blooded, all-American, business owner who hates negative thoughts… so he doesn’t have ‘em! He’s as out-of-touch as he is unaware, but makes up for it with his jolly nature. His greatest fear is interpersonal conflict, and now that the house is full of kids, conflict is inevitable.

Malick portrays Shawn’s mother, Michelle Voss. An empathetic, overly-attentive, good Christian mother who believes in her kids as much as she worries about them. She couldn’t be happier to have adopted her new Russian son, but is also realizing she doesn’t have the same pep in her parental step… and just may need something she’s never needed before: the help of her family.

Swinton is Daniel Voss. A recent adoptee from Russia, Daniel is socially unaware, naïve for his age, and speaks heavily accented English. On the one hand, he’s the sweetest kid you’ll ever meet. On the other, he has suffered a lot of trauma in his young life and runs primarily on raw emotion. He has high highs and low lows, but his earnest eagerness to connect with his new home & family is impossible to resist.

Moore plays Chelsea Voss. Despite being a budding social media “influencer”, she’s the hippest and smartest person in the house. Born with a host of health problems, she’s had to overcome a lot, but like her bio says, she is not defined by her struggles! At her core she’s a good person who’s doing her best to love her family and guide them towards “enlightenment” but at the same time, it’s a tough job and she’s pretty busy with Tik-Tok.

Pernas portrays Dr. Zora. An adoption specialist, Daniel’s homeroom teacher, and the apple of Shawn’s eye, Dr. Zora is as intelligent as she is charming. Accustomed to being fawned over and a black-belt in flirt-jitsu, she easily dismantles Shawn’s advances with a smile. She keeps her cool when others don’t and provides a voice of reason in an otherwise chaotic world.

Doi is Thumper. A happy-go-lucky adoptee and Daniel’s best friend, his nickname is derived from the term “Bible thumper.” His two favorite things are girls and God, and puberty is making it difficult to stay on the straight and narrow Jesus prescribed.

Vance is an accomplished personal trainer, a former Green Beret, and the creator, writer, and star of the upcoming Netflix series The Green Beret’s Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse. He’s repped by Gersh, Zero Gravity and Myman Greenspan.

Campbell most recently reprised his most famous role as Ash Williams from Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead franchise in Starz’s follow-up series Ash vs. Evil Dead, which aired for three seasons. The Burn Notice alum next will be seen starring in indie thriller, Black Friday, with Michael Jai White. He currently hosts a revival of Ripley’s Believe it or Not for Travel Channel. He’s repped by APA, and Jacobson, Russell, Saltz, Nassim & de la Torre, LLP.

Malick, who starred as Victoria Chase on Hot in Cleveland and as Nina Van Horn in Just Shoot Me, recently recurred on American Housewife, The Ranch and This Is Us and guest-starred on Billions, among other credits. She’s repped by Innovative Artists.

Swinton has appeared in numerous TV shows, including Bull, Blacklist, Blacklist: Redemption, Blindspot and NOs4a2. He’ll next be seen in the upcoming Netflix series Halston. Swinton’s film credits include T-11 Incomplete, Becks and How to Get Girls. He’s repped by A3 Artists Agency, Dave McKeown/Edge Entertainment, & Jamie Feldman.

Moore previously booked a series regular role on the ABC pilot Woman Up and played the younger version of Alice Eve’s title character in CBS’ pilot Hannah Royce’s Questionable Choices. She was also featured in the indie film Beautiful Dreamer which won best ensemble at the San Francisco International Film Festival. She’s repped by A3 Artists Agency and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher.

Pernas can currently be seen portraying international art thief Lexi in CBS’s summer series, Blood & Treasure. Her other credits include a series regular role on NBC’s The Brave and recurring on Jane the Virgin. She’s repped by Zero Gravity management, Innovative Artists.

The 12-year-old Doi can currently be seen in his breakout role of YoYo alongside Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo in Lionsgate’s film Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar. He also voiced the character Box Kid in the upcoming Boss Baby 2 sequel, Boss Baby: Family Business, slated to be released in September. Doi also is currently working on two new Nickelodeon shows. He’s repped by AEFH and Bartlett-Carter Talent Management.

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