Casting News: Viola Davis' Paramount+ Thriller, Hercule Poirot Series Adds 10, And More

Viola Davis is returning to the small screen: The "How to Get Away With Murder" alum will star in the Paramount+ original series "Ascent," TVLine has learned.

Created by John Logan ("Penny Dreadful"), the character-based thriller is "set in the dangerous world of global corporate crisis and damage control," according to the official logline. "Davis will play elite corporate fixer Catriona Vail, who must weaponize the ruthless skills that have made her indispensable to billion-dollar clients when her estranged daughter is in danger."

Davis will executive-produce alongside husband Julius Tennon (for JuVee Productions), Logan (who serves as showrunner), and Michael Aguilar ("Penny Dreadful: City of Angels").

"I am overwhelmingly excited about this journey with the great John Logan," Davis said in a statement Tuesday. "We won the lottery with this one! Work in which both story and character are bold, awe inspiring and deeply unique is why I became an artist. We at JuVee are deeply grateful to John Logan, Michael Aquilar, and Paramount. We are ready to create magic!"

Production is slated to begin in Los Angeles in 2027.

• Britbox has added several cast members to its upcoming "Hercule," which stars Edward Bluemel ("My Lady Jane") as Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot. The new additions are: Jack Gleeson ("Game of Thrones"), Henry Ashton ("A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms"), James D'Arcy ("NCIS: Tony & Ziva"), Calvin Demba ("Supacell"), Phil Dunning (BBC Three's "The Dickie Show"), Tamsin Greig ("Episodes"), James Nesbitt ("The Missing"), Guy Remmers ("The Buccaneer"), Rebecca Rittenhouse ("The Mindy Project") and Mawaan Rizwan (BBC Three's "Juice"). Per BritBox, the series "is an intimate study of Hercule Poirot, the man and an epic portrait of Britain between the wars. It will center around three of Christie's early stories, while also introducing Hercule Poirot to future friends and allies and one particular nemesis...."
• Mary Holland ("Ghosts") will join Skyler Gisondo and Jimmy Tatro in the cast of the Superman spin-off series centered on Jimmy Olsen currently in the works at HBO Max, Deadline reports.
• Netflix's book adaptation "This Summer Will Be Different," starring Sophie Nélisse, has added Jordan Rodrigues ("The Fosters") as Miles Lam, Jude Wilson ("Fellow Travelers") as Zach, Natalie Brown ("The Strain") as Christine, James Tupper ("Big Little Lies") as Ken, Tom Barnett ("Orphan Black") as Peter, and Celia Owen ("Moonshine") as Joy.