Former Greek star Paul James will co-star in Mixtape, the upcoming Netflix series starring Jenna Dewan.
James will play Sam, the role Raul Castillo played in the original FOX pilot, reports Deadline. The character is an aspiring songwriter and young widower who will do whatever it takes to keep his son happy and safe.
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Mixtape is a romantic drama centered in the Los Angeles music scene, with a look at a diverse group of people and their love stories. It was created by Joshua Safran, who also created Quantico and was an executive producer on Smash and Gossip Girl. The executive producers are Safran, Annapurna’s Megan Ellison and Sue Neagle, and Ali Krug.
Dewan joined the project back in March when it was set up at FOX. The network passed on the project, but Netflix saved it in July by ordering 10 episodes. Aside from Dewan, Jahmil French, Callie Hernandez, Campbell Scott, Madeleine Stowe, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Megan Ferguson and Evan Whitten are all expected to return for the Netflix version, with Sam as the only role re-cast.
James recently starred on Hulu’s The Path and had a recurring role on TNT’s The Last Ship. He also starred on Greek, which aired on ABC Family (now Freeform) from 2007 to 2011. He will next be seen in National Geographic’s The Hot Zone, an adaptation of Richard Preston’s novel, in 2019.
For Dewan, Mixtape is the latest step in her return to television. She now recurs on FOX’s The Resident as Julian Lynn, her first TV role since playing Lois Lane’s sister Lucy in the first season of Supergirl in 2015 and 2016. She also left the NBC reality series World of Dance, which will start its first season without her on Sunday, March 3.
Mixtape is one of the many new shows Netflix has in the works as the streamer finds new replacements for long-running shows like House of Cards and Orange Is The New Black. One other new show in development is What/If, a social thriller anthology series that will star Renee Zellwegger, Jane Levy and Blake Jenner.
Created by Mike Kelley (Revenge, Swingtown), the series follows acceptable people doing surprising things. In season one, a strange woman makes a suspicious offer to San Francisco newlyweds who need the money.
According to Deadline, the supporting cast was filled out earlier this week. Tyler Ross (The Killing), Derek Smith (Grey’s Anatomy), Nana Ghana, Monique Kim and Marissa Cuevas joined the project. Phillip Noyce (The Resident, Salt) will direct the first two episodes.
Netflix has not announced release dates for What/If or Mixtape.
Photo credits: Getty Images
