HBO’s ‘Westworld’ Enlists Miranda Otto

HBO is pulling out all the stops for Westworld.

Rake and Lord of the Rings alum Miranda Otto has become the newest addition to the already impressive cast, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Inspired by Michael Crichton‘s 1973 feature film, the drama is billed as a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the future of sin.

Otto will play Virginia Pittman, the head of the quality assurance department whose brutal honesty with her colleagues and ruthless efficiency in dealing with malfunctioning “property” have made her a formidable and unpredictable power player in Westworld.

She joins a rapidly growing cast of all-stars that includes Anthony Hopkins, Evan Rachel Wood, Ed Harris, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Rodrigo Santoro, Shannon Woodward, James Marsden, Kyle Bornheimer and more. Production on the pilot begins this month.

J.J. Abrams will executive produce alongside veteran producer Jerry Weintraub and Bad Robot’s Bryan Burk. Person of Interest‘s Jonathan Nolan, who co-wrote the pilot, will executive produce and direct as well. Lisa Joy co-created the drama and co-wrote the pilot and will also exec produce. Kathy Lingg will co-executive produce and Athena Wickham is a producer on the Warner Bros. Television drama. David Coatsworth is set as a co-executive producer and line producer, with Susie Ekins set as a co-producer.

Otto most recently co-starred in Fox’s short-lived Greg Kinnear drama Rake. Her small-screen credits include The Starter Wife and Cashmere Mafia. On the big screen, she had roles in War of the Worlds, the Lord of the Rings franchise and countless others. She’s repped by Gersh and Management 360.

Email: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
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