Wow!  Such an amazing week for BREAKING casting news. Yep, last week was the quiet before the storm.  I have blogged all damn day and night monitoring all the media outlets and doing some major snooping around with my own sources.  So, basically, I haven’t slept in days!  I have GOT to hire some staff!  Okay, so, let’s review what we have so far and put it together in one blog. Damn, I need a nap!

ABC’s SECRETS AND LIES  – Ryan Phillippe signed the dotted line yesterday and now he is a done deal.  Just after that announcement came one that made us go Hmmmm.  Natalie Martinez is playing leap frog with the networks. Martinez will play the character Jess, the child’s devastated mother.  Secrets & Lies centers on a house painter and family man (Phillippe) who becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a young boy when he finds the body while out on a morning run. He must find the real murderer to clear his name and save his marriage, his reputation and any chance of having a normal family life again. If you remember EP Neal Baer said earlier last month, that two of our favorite characters on Under the Dome won’t live to see episode two. Now with that being said, if Natalie is joining the cast of ABC’s Secrets & Lies, could “Linda” be the one of the two that won’t live to see another episode?? Hmmmmm….  WAITING ON CASTING CHOICES FOR  16-year-old Natalie, 12-year-old Abby, Ben’s wife, Christy.

CBS’S UNDER THE DOME SEASON 2 – The 18-year-old newbie actress Grace Victoria Cox  will recur as the mysterious and beautiful Melanie, who catches the eye of Joe (Colin Ford). Eddie Cahill CSI: New York has been cast as Big Jim’s brother in law, Sam, who is the “crazy drunk” who lives in the woods!   Also, Karla Crome (Misfits) joins the enclosed gang!  Crome will play Rebecca, the beautiful school teacher who we’ve been talking about.

MATTEL’S MAX STEEL – Open Road will release domestically in 2015. Atlanta boy, Ben Winchell will take on the lead role of Max McGrath.  He’s best known for his roles in Lifetime’s Pregnancy Pact, as well as Dixon in season 3 of A.N.T. Farm (Disney) and Eric in season 2 of Necessary Roughness (TNT). Ana Villafane will play Max’s love interest, Sydney Gardner.  She’s an up-and-coming Latina actress and singer from Miami, Florida.  Villafane is best known for her starring role in Anchor Bay’s 2012 release Hiding playing a protected witness relocated from New York City to Montana.  Also, in this flick was Jeremy Sumpter who we just had here working on The Squeeze.

CREW MEMBERS: Hunter Ingram from the Star News is writing an article about Wilmington crew members who produce our fabulous TV shows and films. Those people who work project to project. He wants to know what you do in their off time, how many months a year do you have to work, how you choose projects, etc.. With the incentive talk only getting louder, he figured this could be a nice feature to work on.  So, if you are interested in being part of this article, you can email hunter.ingram@starnewsonline.com or call Hunter at 910-343-2327.

Universal Publishing Artist Steven Fiore will be appearing live at Post 1200’s Giant Culture this Friday evening. It all begins at 7pm.  This will be an “Austin City Limits” style setting. On the east coast from Los Angeles to work with Art Garfunkel – Steven will captivate the audience the same way he has caught the attention of artists like Kate Vogel, Keith Urban, Alison Krauss and Jason Castro. Regional favorite Howie Day has also used Steven’s music. 5$ seats will sell fast! Buy online with no fees!  BRING YOUR OWN BEER OR WINE & PAY A CORKING FEE!

MOST POPULAR POSTS THIS WEEK:

• Headshots 101: Casting Directors’ Pet Peeves
• Snowy Hollow – Sleepy Hollow Locations in a Winter Wonderland.
• THE WILMYWOOD DAILY – 02/05/2014 – Under the Dome adds Cast, No Secret about Ryan Phillippe, More on Max, Dirt Poor Fest and More
• THE WILMYWOOD DAILY – 01/30/2014 Director Named for Secrets & Lies, Max Steel, NC Oscar Nom Revoked and More.
• Eddie Cahill & Karla Crome join Under the Dome Cast
• THE WILMYWOOD DAILY – 02/03/2014 Superbowl Commercial shot in NC, Ex-Oscar Nom fires back, and more.

That just about does it for me; I will have more Wilmywood updates for you tomorrow morning (unless something breaks) and every weekday morning we do “What’s Up in Wilmywood” at 7:30am & 8:30am LIVE on Sunny 104.5.  Got Scoop?  Email me: sheila_brothers@yahoo.com.  Or message me on Wilmywood’s FB  or on Twitter.  You can also just post your comments below!  Until then, that’s a wrap!!