"This is awful. I was hoping it would be Jindal so I could play him in the HBO movie."
Kal Penn is headed back to CBS.
The actor, who recurred on How I Met Your Mother, has booked the co-starring role in the network’s Vince Gilligan and David Shore drama, Battle Creek, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
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Based on a 2002 spec, the drama centers on a detective and FBI agent with very different worldviews who are teamed up. Together, they must answer the question: Is cynicism, guile and deception enough to clean up the semi-mean streets of Battle Creek, Mich., in the face of a complete lack of resources; or is the exact opposite true — it takes naivete, trust and a boatload of resources?
Penn will play a local detective with reservations about the newly arrived FBI agent. The casting reteams the actor with Shore, after the duo worked together for nearly 40 episodes of Fox’s House prior to the actor departing to work for the White House. The casting also marks Penn’s latest CBS project after he co-starred on this season’s short-lived comedy We Are Men.
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Gilligan penned the initial script with the Breaking Bad alum and Shore updating the most recent version. The duo will both executive produce alongside Breaking Bad‘s Mark Johnson. Shore will serve as showrunner on the Sony Pictures Television/CBS Television Studios vehicle.
Penn is repped by Gersh, Industry Entertainment and Fuller Downs.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
Twitter: @Snoodit
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