Jessica Harper is set to star in the upcoming Fatal Attraction series at Paramount+, Deadline confirms. Rounding out the cast are John Getz (Doom Patrol), Toks Olagundoye (Veep), David Sullivan (The Wilds), and newcomer Isabella Briggs, who are all expected to play key recurring roles. Previously announced cast members include Lizzy Caplan, Joshua Jackson, Amanda Peet, Alyssa Jirrels, Toby Huss, Reno Wilson, and Brian Goodman.
Harper is an actress and singer with an extensive film career spanning decades. Hailing from Chicago, she’s best known to horror fans for starring in Dario Argento’s 1977 Italian supernatural film Susperia. She went on to star in films like the sequel to Rocky Horror Picture Show called Shock Treatment as well as the Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise collaboration film, Minority Report. Besides acting, she has created several children’s albums and written eleven children’s books. Harper currently stars in the shows The Old Man and See.
The Fatal Attraction series will be a reimagining of the classic 1980s thriller of the same name. The original framed book editor and white collar working woman Alex (Glenn Close) as the unstable threat to Michael Douglas’s family man character, Dan Gallagher. After his and Alex’s extramarital affair ends, Dan must protect his traditional wife and family from a danger he brought on them with his betrayal. Needless to say, it didn’t put mental health or women in the workplace in a very fair light and is in need of a reboot for the modern-day audience.
In the reimagining, Harper’s character is Sophie, mother to Beth (Peet) who Deadline describes as “a dryly witty New England transplant who loves her daughter and granddaughter and also a cocktail.”
The new cast added to the show will play the following characters: Getz as Beth’s father, Warren; Olagundoye as Conchita Lewis, head of Victim Services; Sullivan as Frank Gallardo, a prosecutor; Briggs as Stella, who is “cheerfully energetic with warm vibes.”
Alexandra Cunningham serves as the series showrunner and will executive produce with co-writer Kevin J. Hynes. Other executive producers include Amblin Television presidents, Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey.
The talented actors announced for the cast guarantee a quality performance worth checking out. Hopefully, this new take on the original will prove to be less problematic and just as thrilling as its predecessor. For those who are curious, the trailer for the original film is below:
