‘Designated Survivor’ Casting for New Roles in Season 3

Fresh off of being picked up by Netflix, Designated Survivor is reportedly casting a few new roles for its third season.

TV Line‘s Michael Ausiello was asked if there were “any updates” on the series, to which he replied that they most certainly were. “With production on the Netflix-saved Season 3 set to start up in mid-October, casting is underway for some new roles,” he said.

Ausiello then revealed that the new roles in question are “a campaign manager who appreciates the pitfalls as well as the historical value in stumping for an Independent incumbent, and the new Chief of Staff she will butt heads with; a gay, black male who runs the West Wing’s digital team; and a quirky geneticist who factors into Hannah’s new mystery to solve.”

The addition of a new Chief of Staff had at least one fan furiously curious about what this might mean for actors Italia Ricci and Adan Canto.

In Designated Survivor, Canto plays Aaron Shore who was the White House Deputy Chief of Staff and became the Chief of Staff in the days following Tom Kirkman’s swearing-in as President. He later resigned and eventually became President Kirkman’s National Security Advisor.

Ricci plays Emily Rhodes, who became President Kirkman’s Chief of Staff following Aaron Shore’s resignation.

As fans are aware, Netflix picked up the political drama after it was canceled by ABC earlier this year. Regarding why the network decided to end their relationship with the series, ABC President Channing Dungey cited a non-ratings-related explanation.

“Creatively, we’ve had a lot of behind-the-scenes churn on the show in terms of the number of showrunners involved,” she stated. “We were less confident with the creative path forward than the other shows we brought back.”

Subsequently, producers were able to negotiate a deal with the streaming giant that will bring Designated Survivor back for at least one more season, and potentially more if the company sees that audiences respond well to it.

Following the news that the show had been saved, lead actor Kiefer Sutherland sent out a message to fans, thanking them for their support.

“We are so excited that Designated Survivor is coming back for the third season, largely in-part because fans of the show really petitioned for its return,” Sutherland said in a message posted to his Twitter account.

At this time, there is no announced release date for Designated Survivor season three.