Casting Roundup: 'Batman Begins' Star on 'Blacklist', Amy Acker on 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'

Some pretty big casting news to get to today, featuring some familiar faces to TV fanatics like myself. Case in point...

Fans of Law & Order, Vikings, and Batman Begins will likely recognize Linus Roache. The British actor has appeared in all three highly-visible franchise properties, showing an unsurprising amount of versatility across his three roles (as A.D.A Mike Cutter, King Ecbert, and Thomas Wayne, respectively. But now, he's headed back to NBC.

Roache will guest star on The Blacklist in one of the final episodes of the first season.

Credit: NBC

Roache will play "the Kingmaker," a Blacklister described as "an extremely dangerous and influential man with political ties around the world" who "manipulates democracy to his own ends and is an expert at political assassination."

So how is Red connected to this man? And will he be a one-off villain, or an ongoing character? Given Roache's talent, and the potential for some wonderful verbal sparring matches with James Spader, I'm really hoping for the latter.

Credit: CBS

Speaking of roles I hope become recurring, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is finally going to introduce the cellist ex-girlfriend of Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg), and she'll be played by one of the more versatile character actresses on TV.

Amy Acker is joining the ABC drama as Audrey, "a talented musician turning heads in Portland, Audrey believes Coulson to be dead and has no idea that he's guarding her from a distance as a super-powered threat from her past re-emerges."

This casting repairs Acker and Gregg, who previously worked together on Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. creator Joss Whedon's big-screen adaptation of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Acker, who currently stars on Person of Interest, is no stranger to Whedon shows, as she's starred on everything from Angel to Dollhouse.

"We're not sure [what happened to the cellist], but right now we do have an 'expert' giving an 'actress we love' a crash course of 'cello lessons,'" said co-showrunner Maurissa Tancheroen in an interview.

Should be interesting to find out the cellist's backstory, since it's something that seems to still weigh on Coulson. (But then, everything seems to weigh on Coulson. "Heavy is the head..." etc.)

Via: TV Guide / Comic Book Resources