For anyone worried that NBC’s Constantine would have any trouble finding a female replacement to stand alongside its titular lead, take comfort. Telemundo star Angélica Celaya has been cast as the hardcore psychic Mary “Zed” Martin, replacing the recently vacated spot formerly held by Lucy Griffiths. That John Constantine sure has a way with the ladies.
Celaya’s hiring was revealed today at this year’s TCA press event by executive producer Daniel Cerone, who sat on the panel with fellow EP David S. Goyer (Man of Steel) and cast members Harrold Perrineau (Lost), Charles Halford (True Detective) and Matt Ryan (Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior). Cerone said (via Deadline) that Zed has “an interesting dark past,” and that she is a solid match for Ryan’s John Constantine, because “Zed is intuitive; she can detect bullshit, and Constantine is a bullshit artist.” Among other things.
While other series may have felt pressured into reshooting parts of the pilot to replace Griffiths’ character Liv with Celaya’s Zed, Constantine’s producer team doesn’t think that’s necessary. Goyer said that “characters drop around [Constantine] like flies,” so having someone enter and exit his life within the span of one episode could be something of a calling card for the character anyway. (Plus, Liv wasn't even in the comics, so good riddance to new creations.) Let’s hope Celaya sticks around longer than one episode, as she’s quite the lovely lady and on the brink of making a name for herself on U.S. TV.
After roles on different Spanish-language series, Celaya had a breakout role in the vampire drama Gabriel opposite Puerto Rican musician Chayanne. Her American TV work is limited to a 2012 episode of Burn Notice and two Season 3 episodes of Dallas. On the cinematic side of things, if you want to call it that, she starred in the assumed clunker Cowboys and Vampires and also the 2013 short film Kiss of Vengeance, an action western from Atrocious director Fernando Barreda Luna. Her skilled badassery can be seen in that short’s trailer below.
As Zed, Celaya will presumably have a hand (and mind) in assisting the supernaturally plagued Constantine in his quest to keep mankind safe from all the evil and darkness lurking everywhere. In the comics, Zed is a romantic foil for our lead occult master, and has a religious background that will hopefully come into play once the series kicks into gear. While the character was already expected to arrive in the first season, expect to find her as early as the second episode. Check out the full Constantine trailer below.
Constantine is set to premiere on NBC on Friday, October 24. If you’re headed to Comic-Con, though, you can catch the full Zed-free pilot episode during Preview Night.
