ABC's David E. Kelley drama The Big Sky is wasting no time getting started.
Less than two weeks after it was picked up straight to series, the cop drama has its first castmember. John Carroll Lynch has joined the cast of the procedural thriller about private detective Cassie Dewell, who partners with ex-cop Jenny Hoyt on a search for two sisters who have been kidnapped by a truck driver on a remote highway in Montana. When the women discover that these are not the only girls who have disappeared in the area, they must race against the clock to stop the killer before another is abducted.
Lynch will play Rick Legarski, a grizzled good ole boy Montana state trooper who outwardly seems dutiful and prideful in his police work as well as to the vast community he protects, yet there is more to this misunderstood man than meets the eye. Casting for the two leads is underway, with several offers already having gone out to name actresses.
Prolific writer-producer Kelley (Ally McBeal, Boston Legal) will pen the script and executive produce alongside longtime collaborator Ross Fineman and C.J. Box. The Big Sky is a co-production between A+E Studios and Disney's 20th Television. An episode count and premiere date have not been determined.
Character actor Lynch's credits include feature Fargo, American Horror Story, The Walking Dead, Carnivale, Big Love, The Drew Carey Show, Perfect Harmony and One Dollar. He is currently shooting Aaron Sorkin's feature film The Trial of the Chicago Seven. He's repped by Suskin Management and Schreck Rose.
Keep track of all of this season's pilot orders, castings and eventual series orders with THR's handy guide.
