Gina Torres is (probably) getting fitted for a set of fangs as we speak. Deadline reports that the actress has been cast as the lead Bride of Dracula in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Riverdale creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s ABC pilot The Brides.
According to Deadline, Torres will play Cleo Phillips, the leader of the titular vampire trio and “an imperious woman with a queenly manner —understandably, as she was a queen in her former life who was turned by Dracula after the death of her husband. Now a maven of New York City real estate, Cleo is challenged professionally by a mysterious newcomer — even as her ties to her sisters are dangerously fraying.”
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The pilot was first announced back in 2015, when it received an order from NBC, featuring producing credits from frequent collaborator Greg Berlanti (Riverdale, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina). This version never moved past the development phase, and ABC nabbed the pilot in January.
As of the writing of this article, Deadline describes the premise as “a sexy contemporary reimagining of Dracula…a family drama with a trio of powerful female leads at its heart. With strong horror elements, The Brides is a vampire soap about empowered, immortal women and the things they do to maintain wealth, prestige, legacy — and their nontraditional family.” Berlanti remains executive producer, alongside Aguirre-Sacasa (who will also write the script), Sarah Schechter, and Maggie Kiley. Kiley, who is another Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Riverdale alum, will direct. This will be a reunion of sorts for Torres, who had a cameo as “Mrs. Burble” in an episode of Riverdale season 4.
Torres’ multitude of genre credits include The Matrix franchise, Serenity, Xena: Warrior Princess, Angel, Castle, Hannibal, Westworld, and more. This is, interestingly, not the first time she’s played a vampire’s love interest. In season one of The Vampire Diaries, she played Bree, a witch who dated Ian Somerhalder’s Damon Salvatore.
There’s no word yet on the actors who’ll be taking on the roles of the other two Brides, or Dracula himself.
