EXCLUSIVE: Kevin Rankin (Claws), Adelaide Clemens (Under The Banner of Heaven) and Bevin Bru (Batwoman) have been cast in ABC‘s one-hour drama pilot RJ Decker, joining the previously announced Scott Speedman and Weruche Opia. Rob Doherty created the series based on Carl Hiaasen’s 1987 novel Double Whammy.
RJ Decker (Speedman), disgraced newspaper photographer and ex-con, starts over as a private investigator in the colorful-if-crime-filled world of South Florida, tackling cases that range from slightly odd to outright bizarre with the help of his journalist ex, her police detective wife, and a shadowy new benefactor, a woman from his past who could be his greatest ally… or his one-way ticket back to prison.
Clemens plays Catherine Delacroix, ex-wife of RJ Decker and an esteemed investigative journalist for the newspaper that once employed him as a photographer.
Bru plays Melody ‘Mel’ Romero, current wife of RJ’s ex and a hard-charging detective with the Fort Lauderdale PD. She liked RJ more when he was in prison.
Rankin will play Aloysius (al-lo-WISH-us) ‘Wish’ Aiken, RJ’s former cellmate and the owner of a bar that celebrates (and sometimes perpetuates) the weirdness that is Florida.
Executive producers include Doherty, who wrote the pilot; Paul McGuigan, who will also direct; Hiaasen, Carl Beverly, and Sarah Timberman. 20th Television is the studio.
Bru will next be seen in a starring role in Catherine Hardwicke’s upcoming feature, Street Smart, opposite Daniel Zovatto, as well as a guest role in season 2 of Tyler Sheridan’s Landman series starring Billy Bob Thornton. Previously, Bru starred as Rene Renzler in the feature 57 Seconds. Bru is most known for her series regular role as Batwoman’s girlfriend Angelique, opposite the lead, Javicia Leslie, on Season 2 of the CW’s Batwoman. Additional TV credits include Hulu’s Ramy, ABC’s Will Trent and Rookies, Fox’s 911 Lone Star, and the John Wells series Hi-Surf. She is repped by Emerald Artists Agency and Authentic Talent.
Rankin TV credits include CBS’s East New York, Netflix’s Umbrella Academy, FX’s Justified, HBO’s Big Love and Six Feet Under, as well as NBC’s Friday Night Lights. He was also a series regular on Claws for TNT. On the feature side, he has appeared in Dallas Buyers Club, White House Down, and Pawn Shop Chronicles. Rankin reprised the role of Kenny in the film El Camino after his recurring arc on the final season of Breaking Bad. He is repped by Gersh, Haven Entertainment and Yorn Levine.
Clemens most recently starred opposite Adam Driver in Kenneth Lonergan’s Hold on to Me Darling at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, and on screen, recently wrapped production on Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon’s upcoming pilot Cuba Confidential, opposite Jake Lacy and Peter Sarsgaard. Additional TV credits include her breakout role as Tawney Talbot in SundanceTV’s Peabody Award–winning drama Rectify, FX’s Under the Banner of Heaven, Justified: City Primeval, and HBO’s Parade’s End. Clemens is repped by Gersh, Untitled Entertainment, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.
