Dylan Gage and Gus Birney have been cast in the upcoming Starz horror comedy pilot “Shining Vale,” Variety has learned.
The pair joins previously announced cast members Courtney Cox and Greg Kinnear. “Shining Vale” is a half-hour series about a dysfunctional family that moves from the city to a small town into a house in which terrible atrocities have taken place. But no one seems to notice except for Pat (Cox), who’s convinced she’s either depressed or possessed – turns out, the symptoms are exactly the same.
Gage will play Jake, the Phelps’ pubescent son who is always glued to some sort of screen. He has severe ADHD and OCD so he quickly forgets what he’s obsessing about. Deeply quirky, and deeply sweet, he has his father’s temper which, like everything else about Jake, comes out at the oddest moments. A sensitive soul, Jake attracts other sensitive souls, some of whom died years ago in the house.
Gage most recently recurred on the Hulu comedy “PEN15.” He has also appeared in shows like “Stranger Things” and “Bobcat Goldthwait’s Misfits & Monsters.” He was also in the Eli Roth film “A House With a Clock In Its Walls.”
He is repped by Buchwald, Play Management, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.
Birney will play Gaynor Phelps, Pat and Terry (Kinnear)’s 16 year-old daughter who is going through that awful phase where she’s smarter than everyone and angry at the world—and by the world we mean her mother, whom she (rightfully) blames for uprooting the family from Brooklyn to suburban Connecticut. She spars with Pat over sex, drinking, school, drugs, the weather—everything, really—mostly because she’s exactly like her mom was when Pat was her age. They become even more similar once Pat becomes possessed.
Birney’s recent TV credits include “The Blacklist,” “Dickinson,” “Insatiable,” “Blue Bloods,” and “Jessica Jones.” She also previously starred in the Spike TV original series “The Mist.”
She is repped by CESD and Suskin Management.
The “Shining Vale” pilot is written and executive produced by Jeff Astrof, with Astrof and Sharon Horgan having written the story. Astrof executive produces under his Other Shoe Productions banner, while Horgan and Clelia Mountford executive produce for Merman. Aaron Kaplan and Dana Honor of Kapital Entertainment also executive produce. Dearbhla Walsh will direct and executive produce the pilot. Warner Bros. Television and Lionsgate Television will produce.
(Pictured: Gus Birney, left; Dylan Gage, right)