Jane Leeves has been cast in Hannah Simone’s single-camera comedy pilot at ABC, Variety has learned.
Simone will star in, write, and executive produce the project, which is inspired by Simone’s family. In the project, Hannah (Simone) and her Indian-American immigrant father Sid have always been close, but after she admits to herself that she’s in a dead-end job and he reveals his marriage is over, they’re starting over together and each finding a new path. This new chapter will either make them crazy close or just crazy.
Leeves will play Caroline, Hannah’s mother. She is described as New Age-y with a fondness for crystals and meditation, the type who “really wants to know your sign.” Caroline is effusive, warm, a bit batty and flamboyant, but well-meaning. She stuns her grown children by announcing that she and Sid are divorced and she has fallen in love with someone new…herself.
Leeves previously starred as Daphne Moon on the hit NBC sitcom “Frasier,” for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe and Emmy Award. She currently appears on the Fox medical drama “The Resident.” Her other TV roles include “Hot in Cleveland,” “Hercules,” “Seinfeld,” and “Murphy Brown.”
She is repped by Gersh and 3 Arts Entertainment.
Along with Simone, Matt Fusfeld and Alex Cuthbertson will also write and executive produce the pilot. ABC Studios will produce. Fusfeld and Cuthbertson are currently under an overall deal at the studio.