Can you imagine Samwise Gamgee as a vampire? We can’t either, and in fact, while Sean Astin will be joining The Strain, Guillermo Del Toro‘s vampire television thriller, the actor will be one of the humans in the show. The show focuses on a team who must investigate a viral outbreak, but those affected by the virus are intelligent and eager for food, which could mean the people trying to control the contagion. Astin is lined up to play the administrator of the virus-fighting team, Jim Kent.
Astin will join John Hurt, Kevin Durand, Richard Sammel, Corey Stoll, and Mia Maestro in the Del Toro directed pilot for the FX show.  With names like Del Toro and John Hurt involved, the show does have a strong sci-fi/fantasy background, and Astin’s addition just adds to the mix of talent for a show that seems to mingle science fiction with fantasy from premise to showrunner.  In fact, while Del Toro will be directing the pilot, the series will be helmed by Lost alum Carlton Cuse.
Officially, Astin’s character is described as follows:
In FX’s drama series pilot The Strain, Sean Astin has been cast in the role of CDC team administrator ‘Jim Kent,’ the third member of the Canary Team triumvirate along with Ephraim Goodweather (Corey Stoll) and Nora Martinez (Mia Maestro) who are charged with solving and containing the mysterious strain of vampirism that is sweeping over Manhattan.
The show is set to be a thriller, and I would expect nothing less with the involvement of Del Toro and Cuse. The fight for humanity apparently,
tells the story of Dr. Ephraim Goodweather (Stoll), the head of the Center for Disease Control Canary Team in New York City. He and his team are called upon to investigate a mysterious viral outbreak with hallmarks of an ancient and evil strain of vampirism. When Eph realizes that this isn’t some new bioterror weapon, but something much older, something outside the reach of science, he teams with Abraham (Hurt) to fight back.
(via Digital Spy, Entertainment Weekly image via LoTR Wiki)
Previously in Sean Astin
- Gender Swapped Lord of the Rings Casting
- Goonies/The Hobbit Trailer Mashup
- Sean Astin to Star In Cabin Fever Reboot
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