NBCUniversal streaming service Peacock has announced new casting for two of its upcoming drama series – Mckenna Grace has joined A Friend of the Family, and Betty Gilpin will star in Mrs. Davis.
Mckenna Grace, who was previously seen in Ghostbusters: Afterlife and The Handmaid’s Tale, will star in the true crime limited drama, which is based on Jan Broberg’s stranger-than-fiction kidnapping story.
A Friend of the Family comes from Nick Antosca (The Act, Channel Zero), who will serve as showrunner, writer, and executive producer. Antosca, under his production banner, Eat the Cat, will produce via his overall deal with UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group.
Grace joins previously-announced series stars Anna Paquin (Flack, The Irishman, True Blood), Jake Lacy (The White Lotus, Being the Ricardos), Colin Hanks (The Offer, Impeachment: American Crime Story) and Lio Tipton (The Edge of Sleep, Why Women Kill).
Acclaimed director Eliza Hittman is set to direct and executive produce multiple episodes of the UCP series, including the first episode (101). Jan Broberg and Mary Ann Broberg will also serve as producers.
A Friend of the Family is based on the harrowing true story of the Broberg family, whose daughter Jan was kidnapped multiple times over a period of years by a charismatic, obsessed family “friend.”
The Brobergs — devoted to their faith, family, and community — were utterly unprepared for the sophisticated tactics their neighbor used to exploit their vulnerabilities, drive them apart, and turn their daughter against them.
This is the story of how their lives were permanently altered – and how they survived.
Mckenna Grace will play the role of Jan Broberg in the later years. Jan is the oldest daughter of Bob and Mary Ann Broberg and leads a happy, traditional life in an idyllic American city.
Jan trusts family friend and neighbor Robert Berchtold, though he has plans for her abduction that she doesn’t suspect.
Peacock also announced that three-time Emmy Award-nominee Betty Gilpin (GLOW, The Hunt) would star in the leading role of the drama series Mrs. Davis from Tara Hernandez and Damon Lindelof. The series comes from Warner Bros. Television, where both Hernandez and Lindelof are under overall deals.
Though plot details are being kept under wraps, Peacock confirmed that the series is an exploration of faith versus technology – an epic battle of biblical and binary proportions. Gilpin will play a nun who goes to battle against an all-powerful Artificial Intelligence.
Emmy Award-winning director Owen Harris (Black Mirror: San Junipero, Brave New World) will executive produce and direct multiple episodes, including the first episode.
Gilpin previously collaborated with Lindelof on the subversive satirical thriller The Hunt.
Mirko Parlevliet has been reporting on the entertainment industry since 1998 and founded Vital Thrills to cover the latest streaming, movie, TV, and game news.