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“Channel Zero” Casts a Twin and a Widow
Syfy’s upcoming horror anthology series, “Channel Zero: Candle Cove,” will star Paul Schneider, pictured above in “Newsroom,” and Fiona Shaw, pictured below in Harry Potter, Variety reported.
The close-ended season is based on Kris Straub’s online short story of the same name, and is set to debut this fall. It centers on one man’s obsessive recollection of a mysterious children’s television program from the 1980s – and his ever-growing suspicions about the role it might have played in a series of nightmarish and deadly events from his childhood. The show was initially picked up for two six-episode standalone seasons, with Season 2 set to premiere on Syfy in 2017.
Schneider stars as Mike Painter, a child psychologist who was a child himself when he witnessed the mysterious disappearance of his twin brother, Eddie, and four other children from their small town, Iron Hill, in 1988. Decades later, he is compelled to return to his hometown to investigate what really happened all those years ago, only to find that it – whatever it was – may be happening all over again. Schneider is represented by Creative Artists Agency.
Irish thesp Shaw also stars as Marla Painter, Mike’s mother and a widow. Marla is shocked when Mike returns home and is reluctant to relive the events of the long-ago disappearance of her son and the other children of Iron Hill. Shaw is represented by United Talent Agency and Independent Talent Group.
Shaun Benson will play Gary Yolen, Iron Hill’s Sheriff and Mike’s childhood friend. The father of two is happy to see his old friend, but terrified that the evil that plagued Iron Hill in the ‘80s might be returning. Benson is represented by Gary Goddard Agency.
Natalie Brown appears as Jessica Yolen, Mike’s childhood friend and the Sheriff’s wife. As the mother of two, she faces every parent’s nightmare when it seems like children may be disappearing from the town once again. Brown is represented by Amanda Rosenthal Talent Agency and Thruline Entertainment.
Luisa D’Oliveira is set to play Amy Welch, the tenacious Sheriff’s Deputy. Too young to remember the original disappearances, she learns about them quickly when she takes charge of a new investigation seemingly tied to the original cases. D’Oliveira is represented by Pacific Artists Management and Primary Wave Entertainment.
Independent filmmaker Craig William Macneill will direct all six episodes of “Channel Zero: Candle Cove,” which hails from Universal Cable Productions. Nick Antosca wrote the pilot and will serve as showrunner and executive producer alongside Max Landis.
Sam Neill, the New Zealand actor best known for his role in 1993’s Jurassic Park, has passed away this week at 78 years old. In a statement shared on Neill’s Instagram page this morning, the actor’s family said that his passing was “sudden and unexpected.”
Neill had been diagnosed with a rare blood cancer in 2022, but stated the following year that he was in remission. The family notes that he “remained cancer free” at the time of his passing.
The family statement reads, “It is with immense sadness that the whānau of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia. Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life. The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free.
“They would like to express their deepest gratitude to the staff at St Vincent’s Private Hospital for their incredible care. More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss.”
In addition to his iconic role as Dr. Alan Grant in the original Jurassic Park and the sequels Jurassic Park III and Jurassic World: Dominion, Sam Neill left an indelible mark on the horror genre with memorable roles in Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession, The Omen: The Final Conflict, John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness, and sci-fi horror favorite Event Horizon.
Sam Neill’s vast resume in film and television began in the early 1970s and also includes the films Sleeping Dogs, Enigma, The Good Wife, A Cry in the Dark, Dead Calm, The Hunt for Red October, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Hostage, The Jungle Book, Snow White: A Tale of Terror, The Horse Whisperer, Bicentennial Man, Daybreakers, Escape Plan, and Thor: Ragnarok.
Sam Neill is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.
Steven Spielberg said in a statement to Variety, “I owe a debt of gratitude to Roger Donaldson, Gilliam Armstrong, Graham Baker and Phillip Noyce for casting Sam Neill in the roles in which he was so brilliant that brought him to my attention and led to his playing Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park. Sam was exceptionally collaborative. It was a stretch for him to play a character who acted as though children were messy and smelly because this was the opposite of the loving father he was to his children. I adored making all the Jurassic movies with him.”
Spielberg adds, “Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our Jurassic family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world.”
Sam Neill in ‘Event Horizon’
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