Goran Višnjić remains one of the most in-demand actors on television. Following a recent guest appearance on ‘Doctor Who’, Višnjić has been tapped to portray Dracula on Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s ABC pilot ‘The Brides’. Though the show will focus on Dracula’s three brides, the lord of vampires will be heavily featured.
In this version of the story, Dracula, the powerful, ageless and iconic King of Night who turned each of his three brides, is left for dead at his destroyed castle in the Carpathian mountains while his three wives, Cleo, Renee and Lily, flee to start a new life together.
Gina Torres will play Cleo, a queen in her past life, who is now a real estate mogul in New York. Katherine Reis plays another wife, Lily, a former prostitute during the time of Jack the Ripper. Dracula’s third wife, Renée Pélagie, is a leading model casting agent. That role has not yet been cast.
The cast also includes Chris Mason as Roland Grant, another real estate mogul and a rival to Cleo, who has a secret tie to Dracula himself, and Sophia Tatum as young aspiring model Justine Strang, who also seems to have a past connection to Dracula.
It is known that ‘The Brides’ is primarily targeted at a female audience, and as such will be more soap opera than horror story. ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke has expressed the intent to make the network #1 with women. (It has taken a hit following the ending of ‘Scandal’ and with the current season being the last for ‘How to Get Away With Murder’.)
Aguirre-Sacasa previously developed ‘The Brides’ for NBC in 2015, but it was not ordered to series. Aguirre-Sacasa is producing with Greg Berlanti and Warner Bros. TV.
Višnjić is best known for starring on ‘E.R.’, and spent three seasons as part of NBC’s ‘Timeless’.
Check back for updates on ‘The Brides’ as they become available.
