Casting Couch: Legal "Damages," Williams to Play in "Dollhouse"?

A couple of interesting tidbits emanating from the casting world this morning, courtesy of some very secretive sources.

First up, I am hearing that an offer is out to British actress Olivia Williams (Miss Austen Regrets, Rushmore) to play the role of Adele DeWitt in FOX's upcoming Joss Whedon drama Dollhouse.

Adele is described as "40-something, beautiful, sophisticated, cold as an Alp. Runs the Dollhouse with an efficiency that is both ruthless and protective. Would die before she showed anyone how lonely she is."

I think Williams, who was absolutely dynamic as the witty, wounded Jane Austen in the recent Miss Austen Regrets, would be perfect for the role of Adele. Fingers crossed that the deal closes as I'd love to see her in Whedon's hands on Dollhouse and I think she'd be a fantastic foil to Eliza Dushku's Echo.

UPDATE: The Hollywood Reporter has now confirmed my scoop. Olivia Williams has been cast as Adele in Dollhouse. Huzzah!

Over on Damages, which returns to FX later this year with a second season of (legal) battles, blackmail, and betrayal, casting is underway on three new roles: a female lawyer who will serve as opposing counsel; a new love interest for Ellen; and Patty Hewes' new client, a man described as "extremely manipulative (but seamless in his manipulation)... ego-maniacal type."

SPOILER ALERT! Good news: it does indeed look like Ted Danson WILL be back next season as shark-like billionaire Arthur Frobisher, after all. While Damages is definitely about the push and pull between female adversaries Patty (Glenn Close) and Ellen (Rose Byrne), I like the aura of greed and general malfeasance that Danson brings to the series with Frobisher and I am happy that his story isn't quite over yet.

Stay tuned.

Have a Burning Question for Team Darlton, Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, or Michael Emerson?

Lost fans: you don't have to make your way to the island via Ajira Airways in order to ask a question of the creative team or the series' stars. Televisionary is taking questions from fans to put to Lost 's executive producers/showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and stars Matthew Fox ("Jack Shephard"), Evangeline Lilly ("Kate Austen"), and Michael Emerson ("Benjamin Linus") for a series of on-camera interviews taking place this weekend. If you have a specific question for any of the above producers or actors from Lost , please leave it in the comments section below . I'll be accepting questions until midnight PT tonight and, while I can't promise I'll be able to ask any specific inquiry due to the brevity of these on-camera interviews, I am looking for some insightful and thought-provoking questions to add to the mix. So who knows: your burning question might get asked after all.

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What's Done is Done: The Eternal Struggle Between Good and Evil on the Season Finale of "Lost"

Every story begins with thread. It's up to the storyteller to determine just how much they need to parcel out, what pattern they're making, and when to cut it short and tie it off. With last night's penultimate season finale of Lost ("The Incident, Parts One and Two"), written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, we began to see the pattern that Lindelof and Cuse have been designing towards the last five seasons of this serpentine series. And it was only fitting that the two-hour finale, which pushes us on the road to the final season of Lost , should begin with thread, a loom, and a tapestry. Would Jack follow through on his plan to detonate the island and therefore reset their lives aboard Oceanic Flight 815 ? Why did Locke want to kill Jacob? What caused The Incident? What was in the box and just what lies in the shadow of the statue? We got the answers to these in a two-hour season finale that didn't quite pack the same emotional wallop of previous season ...

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In Defense of Downton Abbey (Or, Don't Believe Everything You Read)

The proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating. Which means, if I can get on my soapbox for a minute, that in order to judge something, one ought to experience it first hand. One can't know how the pudding has turned out until one actually tastes it. I was asked last week--while I was on vacation with my wife--for an interview by a journalist from The Daily Mail, who got in touch to talk to me about PBS' upcoming launch of ITV's period drama Downton Abbey , which stars Hugh Bonneville, Dame Maggie Smith, Dan Stevens, Elizabeth McGovern, and a host of others. (It launches on Sunday evening as part of PBS' Masterpiece Classic ; my advance review of the first season can be read here , while my interview with Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes and stars Dan Stevens and Hugh Bonneville can be read here .) Normally, I would have refused, just based on the fact that I was traveling and wasn't working, but I love Downton Abbey and am so enchanted with the proj...

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