From Jersey girl to Lady Van Helsing – Janet Montgomery is making quite a leap. The Made in Jersey star has been cast in a starring role in ABC’s monster drama Gothica.
Gothica has a sort of Once Upon a Time concept of blending fictional characters with the modern world; it takes place in the present but incorporates stories from famous literary monster classics include Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Janet Montgomery’s character is Grace van Helsing. She’s the ex-wife of Dr. Frankenstein (Tom Ellis) and the partner of Dorian Gray (Chris Egan). A well-known writer from a publishing company, Van Helsing is dedicated to finding out who killed her parents.
British-born Montgomery had a rocky start in her first leading role on an American TV series. Made in Jersey lasted only two episodes this past fall before it was pulled. She previously appeared in both Human Target and Entourage. On the feature side, she is best known for her role in Black Swan. She’ll next be seen on the big screen in The Republic of Two.
Gothica is being written by The Sorcerer’s Apprentice writer Matt Lopez and will be directed by Leap Year director Anand Tucker. THR says Montgomery will also join Smash’s Raza Jaffrey for the pilot, which is expected to be filmed in Montreal, Canada. Gothica is a high-concept project which will have to differentiate itself from both Once Upon a Time and from a similar series in the works for Showtime Penny Dreadful, which also uses literary characters. It might be an uphill battle, but hopefully Montgomery has joined a more successful project this time.
