For former Dexter star Jennifer Carpenter, finding a permanent TV gig after the hit Showtime thriller has been something of a challenge. But she has now stumbled on her best chance yet at getting back in front of TV audiences, as she’s been added to the cast of the Limitless pilot being produced at CBS.
A small screen adaptation of Neil Burger’s 2011 film starring Bradley Cooper, Limitless stars Manhattan Love Story’s Jake McDormand as leading man Brian Sinclair. As in the film, he discovers a drug called NZT that makes him ridiculously smart and mentally sound, but here, Brian is inserted into a procedural narrative that puts him in the middle of the FBI, which uses his newfound smarts to help them solve cases.
That’s where Carpenter’s character comes into it, as she’ll play an investigator named Rebecca. According to Deadline, Rebecca is dynamic and has quickly climbed her way up the FBI ladder to success, but there are still some nagging thoughts concerning the reason why she got into law enforcement in the first place. Could it be her own secret criminal past, or that of a family member? Was she in a rogue D.A.R.E. program as a youth? I’m sure I’d have already figured it out if I had some NZT at my disposal.
Carpenter and McDorman are they only cast members that have been added to Limitless so far. The pilot is being written by Craig Sweeny, a veteran of TV series such as The 4400, Medium and Elementary. He’ll be executive producing alongside Cooper, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Todd Phillips, and more. Marc Webb, he of The Amazing Spider-Man fame, will be directing, as well as executive producing.
This will be Carpenter’s third pilot since Dexter came to a controversially awful end in 2013. She was first a part of the ABC project Sea of Fire, which involved a deadly small town scandal provoked by three teenage girls starring in a porno. She then joined USA’s comedic drama pilot Stanistan with Friday Night Lights’ Zach Gilford, in which she would have played a public affairs officer working at an American compound in the fictional country of Stanistan. While Limitless might not be what the world needs, it would be nice to see Carpenter on the regular again.
Carpenter’s other TV work in recent years has been on the vocal side, as she’s provided voicework for the animated series Pound Puppies and the Adult Swim show Robot Chicken. Other voicework includes the horror video game The Evil Within and Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher, in which she played Black Widow. As well, she starred in the 2014 horror feature The Devil’s Hand.
It’s not clear when Limitless will be going into production, but it’ll likely be underway in the next few months to allow decision time for the fall season.
