Ryan Murphy has a pretty good track record with getting projects to series, even if those shows inevitably get cancelled after just one season, like The New Normal. The prolific producer and creator’s latest is Open, an HBO drama featuring an ensemble cast that will focus on topics related to relationships. The subscription cable network got a hold of the pilot rights in April, and now the pilot has signed on its very first cast member: Wes Bentley.
The Hunger Games actor is joining the cast in order to play Evan Foster, a character that is described as a “blowhard.” He’s also arrogant and his character will fit into the show’s interest in relationships, including aspects related to sex, intimacy, and even monogamy. According to THR, Bentley’s character will also love to talk (read: bloviate) about sexuality. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like we will be privy to any epic facial hair sculpting this time around.
Murphy will be writing the Open pilot with Dexter’s Lauren Gussis. The two will both earn executive producing credits, along with frequent Murphy co-conspirator Dante Di Loreto who will executive produce the drama pilot. Murphy’s actually under an overall deal with Twentieth Century Fox, but he has a couple of projects at HBO right now. The other is the TV movie The Normal Heart, which will tell a tale of the early days of the HIV/Aids epidemic in New York. That movie has attracted even bigger names than Bentley, including Julia Roberts, Mark Ruffalo, and Matt Bomer and has been slated for a 2014 premiere. Here’s to hoping Open will find the same success with HBO.
