“Task” is adding an Oscar winner to its task force.
Mahershala Ali is joining the cast of the acclaimed HBO crime drama for Season 2, Variety reports. He’ll play Eddie Barnes, “a seasoned and well-respected DEA agent in Philadelphia whose team comes into conflict with Tom’s unit.”
Ali joins an ensemble that includes Mark Ruffalo, who led the Season 1 cast as FBI agent Tom Brandis. In Season 2, “Tom Brandis takes the helm of a new task force, but the deeper the operation runs, the harder it is to tell who’s the target,” per the official logline.
Hailing from “Mare of Easttown” creator Brad Ingelsby, “Task” debuted last September with a seven-episode freshman season. (Check out our finale post mortem with Ruffalo and Ingelsby here.) It earned a Season 2 renewal in November, with Ruffalo and Ingelsby set to return.
Ali is best known for his film work, including “Moonlight” and “Green Book,” both of which won him Oscars for best supporting actor. But he’s no stranger to HBO crime dramas, having starred in Season 3 of “True Detective” alongside Stephen Dorff. His other TV credits include “House of Cards,” “Luke Cage,” and “The 4400.”
In other casting news…
* Harriet Walter (“Succession”) has joined the cast of Sharon Horgan’s upcoming HBO comedy “Youth,” according to Deadline. (No character details for her role have been released.) The series “follows a 50-year-old divorcee’s search for sex and love whilst juggling caring for her ailing parents and parenting her should-be grown up son.” Also joining the cast: Anne Reid (“Sanditon”) and Freddie Fox (“House of the Dragon”).
* FX’s “Shōgun” has added five actors to its Season 2 cast: Risei Kukihara as Gabriel, Ryô Satô (“Silence”) as Rin, Seishiro Nishida as Jōshin, Mantaro Koichi as Saitō, and Takashi Yamaguchi (“Pachinko”) as Kanō.
* The Netflix hostage thriller “Rabbit, Rabbit,” starring Adam Driver and Regina Hall, has added two dozen actors to its ensemble in recurring roles, per Deadline, led by Alison Pill (“The Newsroom”) and Brian d’Arcy James (“Evil”).
* The “Running Wild With Bear Grylls” revival, premiering Tuesday, April 21 at 9 p.m. on Fox, has announced that the following eight celebrities will join Grylls: Elizabeth Banks, Rhys Darby, Colman Domingo, Tiffany Haddish, Matthew McConaughey, MGK, Michelle Monaghan, and Uma Thurman. Watch a newly released promo: