AP Photo/Nathan StrangeChristina Ricci looks to steer her career back on track after one major Speed bump.
The Speed Racer star has signed on for a guest appearance opposite Holly Hunter in TNT's Saving Grace, playing a young detective for a three-episode arc. She'll partner with Grace (Hunter) while regular cohort Ham Dewey (Kenneth Johnson) is on temporary leave.
In other casting news:
- Kristin Dattilo has come aboard Showtime's Dexter for five episodes, playing Det. Barbara Gianna, a tough-as-nails vice cop.
- DJ Qualls of Road Trip fame will join his real-life girlfriend of two years, Nikki Reed, and William Sadler in the indie comedy Last Day of Summer. The flick follows a ticked-off fast-food worker who decides to seek revenge on his boss only to get sidetracked by a random encounter with a beautiful customer. Shooting has already kicked off in New York.
- Mark Feuerstein, perhaps best known for the defunct NBC sitcom Good Morning, Miami, is set to headline USA Network's Royal Pains, a show about a former ER doctor who goes to work patching up the wealthy elite in the Hamptons. Seinfeld's Jason Alexander will direct the 90-minute pilot.
- Where's Zeus when you need him? Kristoffer Polaha, Autumn Reeser and Robert Baker have been tapped to star in the CW's upcoming dramedy series Valentine Inc., about Greek gods who return to Earth to once again wreak havoc on its citizens. Polaha will play Eros, Baker will play Leo (aka Hercules) and Reeser will play Phoebe, the goddess of the Oracle at Delphi. (We predict a short life for these immortals.)
- Nicole Steinwedell is joining the cast of CBS' military drama The Unit in a potentially recurring role as Bridget Sullivan, a strong female character who'll pull her own weight with the Delta Force.
- Supermodel-turned-actress Laetitia Casta has come aboard to costar with Fanny Ardant and Lee Kang-sheng in Visages, a new film from Taiwanese helmer Tsai Ming-liang that will shoot this October in the Louvre.