Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero's iZombie pilot has added another actor to its cast, and it's one that should be familiar to One Tree Hill fans. Robert Buckley, who played Clayton Evans on the CW series, has signed on to play a character with close ties to (and strong feelings for) the lead character in the potential series.
Co-written by Veronica Mars' Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero, and based on a DC comic from Chris Roberson and Michael Allred, IZombie centers on Liv, a former med-student who's now a zombie and in need of a steady diet of brains. This leads her to take a job working at a coroner's office, which gives her access to all the brains she needs to stay sane. As a side effect of brain-eating is inheriting the corpses memories, she eventually uses the knowledge to help her boss solve murder cases.
TVLine says Buckley is on board to play Major, "a seemingly perfect former college football player-turned-environmental engineer." The site says he was once engaged to Liv, and he's trying to remain friends with her, despite still being in love with her.
I'm getting the impression that part of Liv's situation might involve keeping her loved ones separate from her zombie condition. Last month, we learned that Alexandra Krosney was set to play Liv's best friend and roommate, who's said to be baffled by her friend's recent behavior and feels like they're drifting apart. Now we're learning that Liv also has a "former" fiancé, which has me wondering if maybe she severed ties with him after she joined the ranks of the undead. From the description of the series, her brainy diet helps her maintain her humanity, so this zombie condition may be something she can manage, but perhaps it's causing her to put some distance between herself and the people she cares about just to be safe. Or maybe the distance is a side effect of her condition. Just a bit of speculation, but some personal conflict would add a nice layer of drama to the story, which also involves crime-solving. Fans of the comic likely have some insight there, so feel free to sound off in the comments if you do!
I'm also curious about the "seemingly" in Major's character description. Is it just there as a "well, nobody's really perfect" reminder? Or is there something more to him that'll be revealed?
In addition to One Tree Hill, Buckley's credits include 666 Park Avenue, an episode of Hart of Dixie, and the role of Kirby Atwood.
Buckley joins Malcolm Goodwin, Alexandra Krosney and David Anders in the pilot, which is in contention at the CW. And he's one more piece to the puzzle, which is still missing its biggest piece. Who will play Liv? We've yet to hear word about that, but hopefully it's coming soon.
In the meantime, here's a really quick rundown of the first issue of the comic, courtesy of YouTuber Shea Koshan...
