‘Strange Angel’: Six More Cast In CBS All Access Series
CBS All Access is rounding out the cast for its upcoming original drama series Strange Angel, from Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions and CBS TV Studios. Peter Mark Kendall (The Americans), Michael Gaston (Man in the High Castle), Greg Wise (Sense & Sensibility), Rade Šerbedžija (Batman Begins), Zack Pearlman (Shameless) and Keye Chen (Silicon Valley) have signed on, joining previously announced Jack Reynor, Rupert Friend and Bella Heathcote.
Production of the 1930s-set series began earlier this month on location across Los Angeles.
Created by Mark Heyman based on George Pendle’s book of the same name, Strange Angel is inspired by the real-life story of Jack Parsons (Reynor) and explores the dramatic intersection between genius and madness, science and science fiction.
Parsons, a brilliant and ambitious blue-collar worker of 1930s Los Angeles, started as a janitor at a chemical factory but had fantastical dreams that led him to birth the unknown discipline of American rocketry. Along the way, he fell into a mysterious world that included sex magick rituals at night, ultimately becoming a disciple of occultist Aleister Crowley. Parsons used Crowley’s teachings of self-actualization to support his unimaginable and unprecedented endeavor to the stars.
Kendall will play Richard Onsted, Jack’s oldest and best friend and a mathematical genius incapable of hiding his opinions, at least when he’s around people he deems less intelligent than himself (which is most of the time).
Gaston will portray Virgil Byrne, Jack’s father-in-law, a domineering, sanctimonious man and a religious zealot.
Wise will play Alfred Miller, the Grand Magus of the Agape Lodge, the occult group that Parsons gets pulled into. Attractive and alluring, though a changeling, you never quite know where he stands.
Šerbedžija will portray Prof. Filip Mešulam, Jack’s mentor and advisor at Caltech who helps his rocketry project gain greater legitimacy.
Pearlman will play Samson Hunt, a Caltech student eager to join Jack’s rocketeering team, he is a brilliant scientist in the field of fluid dynamics and a strange combination of “good-ole-boy and nerd.”
Chen will portray Gui Chiang, a regal, brilliant Caltech student who joins Jack’s rocketeering venture; he is descended from Asian royalty but often overlooked by his faculty advisors.
Kendall’s television credits include NBC’s Chicago Med, FX’s The Americans and HBO’s Girls. He will next be seen in the feature film I Am Not a Bird.
Gaston is a series regular on Amazon’s Man in the High Castle. His other TV credits include HBO’s The Leftovers, TNT’s Murder In The First and CBS’ Jericho.
Wise, known for his role as Willoughby in Ang Lee’s 1995 film adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, appears in Netflix’s The Crown and BBC4’s Swedish thriller Modus.
Šerbedžija is known for his roles in the films Batman Begins, Mission: Impossible II, Eyes Wide Shut and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.
Pearlman’s credits include Showtime’s Shameless and Fox’s Mulaney and features The Intern, Why Him? and Staten Island Summer.
Chen recurred as Dang on HBO’s Silicon Valley and was a series regular on the go90 series Tales of Titans.
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