“Friday Night Lights” star Minka Kelly and Aussie actress Rachael Taylor have been tapped to join the cast of the TV remake of “Charlie’s Angels,” Deadline reported Thursday.
Kelly, 30, and Taylor, 26, are in negotiations with ABC to fill the remaining slots of the crime-fighting trio. “General Hospital” actress Annie Ilonzeh, 27, was previously announced as the first member of the group.
If a deal is hammered out, Kelly — girlfriend of New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter — would join the show as Marisa, “a former US Marine, a weapons expert trained in all forms of hand-to-head combat and a neat freak,” according to the entertainment news website.
Taylor, a native of Tasmania who was in “Transformers” and starred opposite Joshua Jackson in “Shutter,” would play Abby, “the youngest and sassiest of the Angels, the beautiful and privileged daughter of a notorious Wall Street crook who is an expert con artist herself as well as a Krav Maga [self-defense] expert,” the website added.
The Disney-owned network is reportedly pursuing “Gossip Girl’s” Mark Piznarski to direct and Drew Barrymore’s production company is taking the lead on preparations for filming in Miami.
The original TV series, produced by Aaron Spelling and at one time staring the late Farrah Fawcett and actress-turned-designer Jaclyn Smith, ran for five seasons on ABC from 1976 to 1981.
Two movies inspired by the 70s TV show were released in 2000 and 2003, starring Barrymore, 35, Cameron Diaz, 38, and Lucy Liu, 42, and proved to be box office hits.