Variety reports Amazon has cast Dominique McElligott in a regular role in its upcoming TV show pilot, The Last Tycoon. McElligott joins Matt Bomer, Kelsey Grammer, and Lily Collins, who were previously cast. McElligott was in ABC‘s The Astronaut Wives Club, which ended quietly with its first season, leaving it effectively cancelled.
A 1930s period drama, The Last Tycoon is based on the unfinished F. Scott Fitzgerald book of the same name. The pilot is written, directed, and executive produced by Billy Ray. Fitzgerald’s novel had been previously adapted into a 1976 film, starring Robert De Niro, Tony Curtis, Robert Mitchum, and Jack Nicholson.
From Variety
“The Last Tycoon” centers on Monroe Stahr (Bomer), Hollywood’s first wunderkind studio executive in the 1930’s, who is based on real-life film mogul Irving Thalberg. The series would follow Monroe as he climbs to the height of power, pitting him against his mentor and current head of the studio, Pat Brady (played by Kelsey Grammer) who is inspired by MGM co-founder Louis B. Mayer.
McElligott will play Kathleen Moore, a pretty and intelligent waitress who works at the restaurant frequented by most of the studio’s writers, which is where she meets Monroe who’s haunted by her resemblance to his late wife. Though Kathleen does not like the movie biz, she hits it off with Monroe who makes it his mission to get her on-screen.
The star-studded ensemble also includes Rosemarie DeWitt, who plays Grammer’s on-screen wife, Rose Brady. Collins plays the Brady’s daughter Celia, a young rich girl in love with Monroe, and when she offers up an intriguing movie pitch, he takes interest in her. While Celia and Kathleen both catch Monroe’s eye, McElligott’s character is expected to have a bigger presence in the first season, should the pilot be picked up to series.
Have you seen the 1976 film, The Last Tycoon? Do you like the sound of a Last Tycoon TV series? Will you check out the pilot when Amazon releases it in its viewer-centric pilot season? Tell us.
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