NBC Casts Telenovela Star as New Female Lead in 'Constantine'
Lucy Griffiths is out, Angelica Celaya is in for NBC's Constantine.
Just days after former True Blood star Griffiths exited the DC Comics adaptation, the show has cast telenovela star Celaya, an actress with several English-language TV credits to her name, including roles on Dallas and Burn Notice.
Executive producer David Goyer broke the casting news during TCA summer press tour panel for the show, confirming that Celaya will play the new lead female character, Zed -- a character who comes straight from the comic books and serves as a foil to John Constantine (Matt Ryan), the paranormal detective.
"She's someone who can go toe-to-toe with John [Constantine], and that's ultimately something we felt like we needed," said executive producer Daniel Cerone. "We wanted a more dynamic relationship, as opposed to someone who is a teacher/mentor and a student. It just didn't feel as fertile and rich of an area as just a strong a man and a strong woman who are both very different."
Zed will be the first of several DC Comics characters planned to make an appearance in the first season of Constantine, although the executive producers are keeping tight-lipped about which characters, specifically, we'll be seeing. But we definitely won't be seeing Liv, the character played by Lucy Griffiths in the pilot. The character was described as an "offbeat woman who finds herself teamed with Constantine after she is marked for death by a powerful demon," which sounds interesting, although not necessarily meaty enough as a sidekick character. She seems much more like a viewer surrogate, which I'm not sure is necessary since this is supposedly a series that puts viewers right into the thick of things from the get-go. However, Liv's exit will still be explained in the show. More specifically, in the second episode, which officially begins filming Tuesday. The episode is likely to also introduce Celaya as Zed. I'm eager to see how she does.
Constantine premieres this fall on NBC. Check out the first official trailer HERE.
Credit: Digifilms