Deadline reports that Amazon’s upcoming adaptation of the British series Utopia has signed on Happy Death Day breakout star Jessica Rothe to appear in a recurring role on the series alongside John Cusack (1408) and Sasha Lane (Hellboy).
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Rothe will play Samantha. Extremely idealistic, sharp-witted, and a natural born leader, Samantha earnestly believes in changing the world through action and scoffs at cheap rhetoric about progress. She could school any comic book nerd about the graphic novel ‘Utopia’ and is embarking on a mission to uncover its secrets.
Rothe joins previously announced cast members Rainn Wilson (The Office, Star Trek: Discovery), Sasha Lane (American Honey), Dan Byrd (Cougar Town) and Cory Michael Smith (Gotham) in the series from Gone Girl author and screenwriter Gillian Flynn.
The 31-year-old actress has signed on to portray Samantha, the extremely idealistic and sharp-witted ‘Utopia’ nerd who is a natural born leader and believes in changing the world through action rather than words about making progress and is embarking on a journey to discover the secrets of the titular graphic novel.
Utopia, based on the British series of the same name written by Dennis Kelly, focuses on a group of young adults who meet online and are mercilessly hunted by a shadowy deep state organization after they come into possession of a near-mythical cult underground graphic novel. They discover the conspiracy theories in the comic’s pages may actually be real and forced into the dangerous, unique, and ironic position of saving the world.
For Cusack, Utopia will serve as his first starring gig in a TV series after a lucrative big screen career that featured such hits as Say Anything, Grosse Pointe Blank, Being John Malkovich and High Fidelity.
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Rothe, who found her first bit of stardom with the short-lived MTV comedy Mary + Jane, rose to fame with the lead role in the 2017 horror comedy Happy Death Day and its 2019 sequel, for which she received rave reviews for her performance, as well as supporting performances in the Oscar-winning musical La La Land and indie dramedy Please Stand By.
Flynn is the creator, executive producer, and showrunner of Utopia. Jessica Rhoades (who Flynn collaborated with on Sharp Objects), Sharon Hall, Karen Wilson, Dennis Kelly, and Diederick Santer will also serve as executive producers. Sharon Levy, President of Unscripted & Scripted Television for Endemol Shine North America, will oversee production for Endemol Shine.
The series is a co-production between Endemol Shine North America and Kudos, an Endemol Shine Group UK production studio, and Amazon Studios. Utopia will be available exclusively on Prime Video in more than 200 countries and territories.
