Deadline is reporting that Jerry O’Connell (
Stand By Me) will take on the role of Herman Munster. In the original series the role was played by the late and great Fred Gwynne. So far the cast is made up of Eddie Izzard as Grandpa Munster, Mason Cook as Eddie Munster and Charity Wakefield will play Cousin Marilyn.
The pilot, written by Bryan Fuller and to be directed by Bryan Singer, is described as a reinvention of the 1960s sitcom about The Munsters, a family of “monsters” — vampires, werewolves and Frankenstein, and their “plain” cousin (Charity Wakefield) — that will feature striking visuals in the vein of Fuller’s ABC dramedy Pushing Daisies. O’Connell will play family patriarch, the handsome and gangly Herman Munster, a great dad and devoted husband. He is married to Lily, a vampire, with whom he has fathered a 10-year-old boy, Eddie (Mason Cook). Strong but sentimental, Herman works at a funeral home, and worries that Eddie’s transformation into a werewolf and burgeoning awareness of his family’s origins will crush the boy’s spirit.