In a spot on bit of casting, CBS All Access and Josh Boone have enlisted Alexander Skarsgård (
Big Little Lies, True Blood) to play Stephen King's omnipresent embodiment of evil, Randall Flagg, in
The Stand.
In addition, Whoopi Goldberg has been confirmed as Mother Abigail, and the adaptation has also added Jovan Adepo (
When They See Us, Jack Ryan) as Larry Underwood, Owen Teague (
Bloodline, IT: Chapters 1 & 2) as Harold Lauder, Brad William Henke (
Orange is the New Black, Split) as Tom Cullen, and Daniel Sunjata
(Rescue Me, Graceland) as Cobb.
They join
previously announced leads James Marsden, Amber Heard, Odessa Young, and Henry Zaga.
New Mutants director Josh Boone, who was the driving force behind all previous attempts to adapt the book, will direct, write, and produce the upcoming series. Here's what he had to say about the show when it was first announced:
“I read The Stand under my bed when I was 12, and my Baptist parents burned it in our fireplace upon discovery. Incensed, I stole my Dad’s FedEx account number and mailed King a letter professing my love for his work. Several weeks later, I came home to find a box had arrived from Maine, and inside were several books, each inscribed with a beautiful note from god himself, who encouraged me in my writing and thanked me for being a fan. My parents, genuinely moved by King’s kindness and generosity, lifted the ban on his books that very day.
I wrote King a cameo as himself in my first film and have been working to bring The Stand to the screen for five years. I’ve found incredible partners in CBS All Access and Ben Cavell. Together with Stephen King, Owen King, my longtime producing partners Knate Lee and Jill Killington, we plan to bring you the ultimate version of King’s masterwork.”
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