LOS ANGELES, CA – October 5, 2015 – Emmy Award-winning comedian Wanda Sykes (Alpha House, The New Adventures of Old Christine) has signed on to guest star on the fifth season of the hit SHOWTIME comedy series HOUSE OF LIES. In addition, three-time Emmy Award nominee Ken Marino (Children’s Hospital, Marry Me) and Nicky Whelan (Matador, Franklin & Bash) will also guest star. Marino will reunite with his Veronica Mars co-star Kristen Bell playing her love interest “Mark.” Production on the new season starts this month for premiere on SHOWTIME in 2016 on-air, on demand and over the internet.
Sykes will guest star in at least three episodes as “Wanda,” a love interest for Jeremiah (Glynn Turman) who becomes a much-needed confidante for Marty (series star and executive producer Don Cheadle) as he looks to ascend from management mogul to global power player. Whelan will play “Klare,” Marty’s raw food chef girlfriend.
HOUSE OF LIES is the hit half-hour comedy series from the hit tell-all book House of Lies: How Management Consultants Steal Your Watch and Tell You the Time by Martin Kihn. HOUSE OF LIES stars Don Cheadle in his four-time Emmy-nominated and Golden Globe®-winning performance. Kristen Bell plays his razor-sharp partner and mother of his daughter, Emmy winner Ben Schwartz and Josh Lawson as members of his team; Emmy winner Glynn Turman as his father; and Donis Leonard Jr. as his son. Produced by Showtime, HOUSE OF LIES is created and executive produced by Matthew Carnahan. Jessika Borsiczky, Don Cheadle and David Walpert return as executive producers for season five.
Named one of Entertainment Weekly’s 25 Funniest People in America, Sykes is known around the world for her insightful, highly intuitive take on everything from dating to politics to family. She is a six-time Emmy Award nominee, having won for her writing for The Chris Rock Show. She is the executive producer of the series Last Comic Standing. Additional television credits include The Real Husbands of Hollywood, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Wanda at Large, which she created, starred in and produced. Film credits include Monster-in-Law, Evan Almighty and Pootie Tang. She has also lent her voice in animated hits Rio, Back at the Barnyard, Ice Age: Continental Drift and Crank Yankers.
Marino has been acting for more than two decades, beginning his career in The State, Men Behaving Badly and Dawson’s Creek. In addition to his two Emmy nominations for his work directing, writing and starring in Children’s Hospital, Marino earned an Emmy nomination for memorable turn on the dating show parody Burning Love. Recent credits include the series Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, Axe Cop, East Bound and Down and Party Down. Australian native Nicky Whelan starred most recently as Annie Mason in Matador. Her additional credits include Workaholics, Hall Pass, Scrubs and the Australian daytime drama Neighbours.
