CBS casts Person of Interest star Jim Caviezel for their Navy SEALs pilot, now joined by Jessica Jessica Paré.
The television landscape seems to be on the verge of an apparent Renaissance of military shows. With History Channel’s Walton Goggins-starring Six recently nabbing a renewal and upcoming network entries set with Fox’s Behind Enemy Lines movie-to-TV adaptation, NBC’s For God and Country and even The CW taking a stab with Valor, it appears that the Eye has fixed its gaze on its own genre offering and it’s tapped a familiar star from one of its late long-running celebrated dramas.
While CBS doesn't have a title for its Navy SEALs pilot, two primary stars are now known. THR reports that former Person of Interest star Jim Caviezel will headline, playing Jason, the seasoned leader of the depicted SEAL assault team who has apparently experienced over a dozen deployments. A subsequent report by Deadline reveals that Caviezel will be joined by Jessica Paré, who plays Mandy, a CIA analyst described as whip-smart and determined in her mission to rid the world of evil.
The CBS SEALs pilot centers on the lives of an elite SEAL unit during their training and implementation of dangerous missions on which any mistake can prove fatal and politically consequential. The pilot and, prospectively, the series, will be run by personnel connected to the celebrated FX series Justified with executive producers Benjamin Cavell, Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly. They are joined in that capacity by Chris Chulack, an executive producer formerly of Shameless and ER. Cavell, who also wrote several episodes of Justified will pen the script for the pilot.
The casting of star Jim Caviezel serves as a bit of a reunion, since he starred on CBS’s 2011-2016 action drama Person of Interest, also known for starring in 2000’s Frequency, his violence-enduring messianic title role in 2004’s The Passion of the Christ, 2002’s The Count of Monte Cristo and AMC’s 2010 miniseries remake of The Prisoner. For Jessica Paré, who broke big on AMC’s Mad Men, with recent roles in the 2015 film Brooklyn and 2016 romcom Lovesick, this could represent some unprecedented moments in the spotlight.
The supporting cast for the CBS SEALs pilot is already filling up. Max Thieriot joins, jumping to a new series as his regular role on A&E’s Bates Motel wraps with the series’ impending conclusion. Neil Brown Jr., who became a crucial player on BBC America’s Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, is onboard. A.J. Buckley, veteran of Justified and longtime cast member of CSI: NY, also joins, as does Toni Trucks of Franklin & Bash.
That is the extent of the current info on CBS’s Navy SEALs pilot. However, given the cast and creative team the network has corralled, it’s clear that the network has stratospheric expectations for this project.