Natasha Rothwell has joined Hulu’s untitled Cable Guy pilot, the darkly comedic reimagining of the 1996 Jim Carrey cult classic starring Damon Wayans Jr. and Jake Johnson.
The pilot is not a remake but rather takes its creative cue from what FX’s Fargo did with the Coen Brothers film, honoring the source material rather than recreating it. Set in the streaming age, the series follows Chip Douglas, played by Johnson, an old-school cable technician who languishes alone until Steven calls to have his cable turned back on, reconnecting Chip with a childhood friend he never forgot. The relationship gives each man something he has been missing, until Chip’s enthusiasm turns into obsession. The show explores what it describes as “the darkly absurd side of modern-day male friendship.”
Rothwell will play Gina, the sister of Wayans Jr.’s character Steven Stephens, described as an oddball with a dark sense of humor who lives at home with their parents in the aftermath of an injury.
Johnson and Wayans Jr. both star in and executive produce the project. The two first appeared together in the original New Girl pilot in 2011 before Wayans Jr. had to exit the series when his ABC comedy Happy Endings was unexpectedly renewed. He returned to New Girl in Season 3 and became a series regular in Season 4. The two also reunited in the 2014 comedy Let’s Be Cops.
Rob Rosell and Joe Piarulli and Luan Thomas serve as co-showrunners and co-wrote the pilot, with additional executive producers Neal H. Moritz and Pavun Shetty of Original Film. The series is produced by Sony Pictures Television, which also distributed the original film, and arrives on the 30th anniversary of Ben Stiller’s cult classic, which grossed $103 million worldwide before becoming a significant cultural touchstone in the years since.
Rothwell is best known for her twice Emmy-nominated performance in The White Lotus, which she recently reprised in Season 3, and is also the creator, executive producer and star of Hulu’s How to Die Alone.