Damon Wayans Jr. has signed on to star in “Kill the Orange-Faced Bear,” the TBS comedy pilot about a man bent on revenge after a bear eats his girlfriend.
Wayans Jr., whose credits include the much-beloved “Happy Endings” as well as his disappearance and then reappearance on the hit “New Girl,” will be joined by Jessy Hodges (“Indebted”), Alex Karpovsky (“Girls”) and Nate Torrence (“Hello Ladies”).
Wayans Jr., who will also serve as an executive producer, plays Hank, described as a “charming, funny and grieving man who’s hell-bent on tracking down the bear who attacked his girlfriend on a camping trip.” “Kill the Orange-Faced Bear” will be told both from Hank’s point of view, as well as the POV of the bear, “who is just trying to move on from the incident and navigate the other idiot bears in her life.”
Hodges was cast as Stacy, the girlfriend who becomes the bear snack, as well as Stacy’s twin sister Jamie, who harbors a “confusing secret.” Karpovsky will play Ronnie, described as “an oddball park ranger who has a score to settle with Hank.” And Torrence is Hank’s best friend, Murray, who’s also Jamie’s boyfriend.
The pilot to “Kill the Orange-Faced Bear” will shoot this May in Portland. The writer and actor who goes by the single name Romanski (“Blue Mountain State”) is the writer and executive producer. Underground’s Trevor Engelson and Steven Fisher (“Snowfall”) are also executive producers, as is Karpovsky and Jake Szymanski, in addition to Wayans Jr. Szymanski is directing the pilot.
Wayans Jr. can currently be seen in both the films “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar” and “Cherry.” His other credits include “Let’s Be Cops,” the sitcom “Happy Together” and he recently was cast alongside Gina Rodriguez and Tom Ellis in the Netflix movie “Players.” Hodges was also seen on “Barry,” while filmmaker Karpovksy’s on-screen roles have also included “Homecoming” and the upcoming “Angelyne” and Torrence was also in “Weird Loners.”
Wayans Jr. is repped by WME. Karpovsky is with WME, Underground and Ginsburg/Daniels; Hodges is with Gersh, MGMT and Mitch Smelkinson; Torrence is with Gersh, Melanie Truhett and Ginsburg/Daniels.
Source: Variety
