A new miniseries has been announced, and it looks fantastic.
We look at the cast list. What do we see? Oh, another show starring Nicole Kidman. Or Jake Lacy. Or Kate Winslet. Or Betty Gilpin.
You get the idea.
Look, we get it. A miniseries has limited episodes to make an impact, and a recognizable name can be a big draw.
Since it’s become commonplace for renowned movie actors to make the move to television, particularly miniseries, why wouldn’t a studio jump on the chance to nab a big name?
It’s a winning formula — literally.
Nicole Kidman is an Oscar winner. What television producer wouldn’t want her attached to their project?
She’s also snagged a couple of Emmys for her work on HBO’s Big Little Lies. She’s proven her worth as a TV star.
The same can be said about Kate Winslet, who similarly made the jump from movies to television. She won Emmys for her work on Mare of Easttown and Mildred Pierce (both HBO shows, by the way).
This year, both Oscar-winning actresses are appearing in yet another limited series.
Nicole Kidman stars in Expats, based on the novel The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee. She plays an American woman living in Hong Kong.
Previously, Kidman has starred in the limited series Nine Perfect Strangers, The Undoing, Big Little Lies, and the series Top of the Lake.
Meanwhile, Kate Winslet is currently appearing in The Regime, a political satire miniseries from HBO.
Her previous limited series credits include Mare of Easttown and Milfred Pierce, along with the series I Am…
Reese Witherspoon is another Oscar winner who has found a home in television, even going so far as to produce many of the shows in which she stars.
Aside from her role in the series The Morning Show, Witherspoon has also starred in the limited series Little Fires Everywhere and Big Little Lies.
Similarly, movie star Hugh Grant can be found in several miniseries these days, like A Very English Scandal, The Undoing, Death to 2020, Death to 2021, and The Regime.
Ok, so that’s just a few movie stars who’ve infiltrated television. That’s not too much, right?
Well, even when a limited opts to stick with television stars, we’re not seeing a whole lot of fresh faces.
When shows want to make a splash, they tend to feature the same few stars, like Jake Lacy, Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin, Emma Corrin, or Evan Peters.
Jake Lacy has had much success in the miniseries circuit, starring in High Fidelity, The White Lotus, A Friend of the Family, and Apples Never Fall.
He’s worked hard to ditch his nice-guy type-casting, which reached its climax with High Fidelity, and it’s worked. If you want a character who’s a little creepy or a bit of an ass, Lacy is your guy.
His Apples Never Fall costar Alison Brie has been a familiar face since her Community days, also starring in GLOW on Netflix.
She’s also done well in straight-to-streaming movies like Hulu’s Happiest Season and Amazon Prime Video’s Somebody I Used to Know.
Betty Gilpin, from GLOW as well, absolutely owns the miniseries world right now. Since GLOW ended in 2019, she’s landed roles in the limited series Gaslit, Mrs. Davis, Skull Island, and Three Women.
Emma Corrin has been sought-after since their stunning portrayal of a young Princess Diana in The Crown. They recently starred in the miniseries A Murder at the End of the World on Hulu.
Meanwhile, Evan Peters has long been a household name since his American Horror Story days. He’s popped up in multiple limited series, like WandaVision, Mare of Easttown, and Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.
Don’t get us wrong — these are all great actors, and we love seeing them on screen. But it seems like miniseries aren’t willing to take a chance on unknown names anymore.
Not only was The White Lotus Season 1 a springboard for Jake Lacy’s recent TV success, but it was also filled with recognizable names like Jennifer Coolidge, Connie Britton, Alexandra Daddario, Sydney Sweeney, and Steve Zahn.
Would the show have been such a hit if it didn’t have such a star-studded cast? Was the writing enough to stand on its own, or did it need the draw of so many famous names?
Likewise, Netflix’s The Watcher was an intriguing show based on an impossibly true story, yet it packed its cast list with movie stars like Naomi Watts, Bobby Cannavale, Jennifer Coolidge, and Mia Farrow.
Most limited series are either based on interesting real-life stories or bestselling novels. There’s already enough hype about the story, so why not bank on that interest to launch some new actors’ careers?
We understand there’s a balance when it comes to attention-grabbing star power vs. becoming a platform for new talent.
One upcoming miniseries that gets it right is The Sympathizer.
Based on the award-winning novel by Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sympathizer strikes a balance between known and unknown stars.
The lead role is played by Hoa Xuande, relatively unknown but for a role in the short-lived live-action Cowboy Bebop series.
The only two well-known names in the cast are supporting members Robert Downey Jr. and Sandra Oh. The rest of the cast consists of new faces chosen for their talent and Vietnamese heritage.
Downey Jr. and Oh bring in viewers, but unknown actors are given the opportunity to take center stage in the main cast.
This also allows the story to shine through without being dimmed by a brighter star.
It seems like every month, there’s a new book-to-series adaptation. We love that for us. But we hope studios will start using the built-in audience as a way to discover fresh talent.
And, sure, we won’t mind a little Kate Winslet every now and then for good measure.
How do you feel about the casting decisions for miniseries?
Do you enjoy seeing big names proliferate limited series, or would you like the opportunity to see new talent blossom?
Let us know in the comments.
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Shela Ward is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. You can follow her on X.
