Annelle Olayele to star as a series regulars in Showtime’s sci-fi limited series The Man Who Fell to Earth. She will star opposite Chiwetel Ejiofor and Naomie Harris.
Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet are writing the series based on Walter Tevis’ novel of the same name. Kurtzman is also directing multiple episodes.
The series centers on a new alien character (Ejiofor) who arrives on Earth at a turning point in human evolution and must confront his own past to determine our future.
Joana Ribeiro, Sonya Cassidy, Rob Delaney, Clarke Peters, and Jimmi Simpson are also cast.
Harris will play Justin Falls, a brilliant scientist and engineer who must conquer her own demons in the race to save two worlds. Olayele will play Molly Falls, the first human child to meet our Man Who Fell to Earth. Molly’s perspective changes the course of our planet’s evolution.
Peters is cast as the patriarch of the Falls family Josiah Falls. He is a gifted scientist and engineer whose surprising relationship with Ejiofor’s alien brings about the next step in human evolution.
READ: Brandi Denise, Cynthia Bailey and Five More Join Games People Play Season 2
Ribeiro will play Lisa Dominguez, a signals specialist at the CIA who works for Clay (Simpson). Lisa is smart, ambitious, talented and dedicated to her country, while carrying the burden of her own secrets.
Simpson will play Spencer Clay, a CIA agent whose obsession with the alien’s true identity drives him to the edge of madness. Harris plays Justin Falls, a brilliant scientist and engineer.
Cassidy will play Edie Flood, CEO of OriGen Industries, and a woman driven to her protect family’s prominent tech company at any cost.
Delaney will play Hatch Flood, the ne’er-do-well of a prominent tech family.Delaney’s Hatch will be maniacally obsessed with the inventions of an alien who previously visited Earth. And the idée fixe will cause him to lose touch with everything around him, including his family.
READ: Nnamdi Asomugha to Star in Netflix Serial Killer Thriller The Good Nurse
Kurtzman and Lumet are also executive producing the series, which was moved from CBS All Access/Paramount+ to Showtime. They will also serve as showrunners along with executive producer John Hlavin. Rola Bauer, Tim Halkin, Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly, Heather Kadin, and Aaron Baiers are also executive producing the series.
This will be the second time The Man Who Fell to Earth was adapted for the screen. It was recreated into the 1976 film of the same name which starred David Bowie.
Filming for the series begins in London in the spring. It will air on Showtime in 2022.
Article originally read on Deadline.