Balfour
Thesp Eric Balfour ("Six Feet Under") has been cast in the NBC pilot "Hawaii."
Meanwhile, "Punk'd" prankster B.J. Novak has landed a role on the Peacock's version of "The Office," and newcomer Adrianne Palicki has been given a slot in WB's new version of "Lost in Space."
Balfour will star with Ivan Sergei in "Hawaii," which begins shooting in the islands later this month. He'll play Christopher Gaines, a Hawaii local who puts his all into his work.
Project was formerly known as both "Hawaii Blue" and "Pearl City." Jeff Eastin is writing and exec producing the pilot for NBC Studios.
UTA-repped Balfour next appears in the upcoming Curtis Hansen feature "In Her Shoes," playing a nice guy gone bad opposite Cameron Diaz. In addition, Balfour is producing and starring in the indie film "RX," playing a kid whose plan to buy prescription drugs in Mexico goes horribly awry. Colin Hanks also stars.
Thesp is also in talks to show up in upcoming episodes of Fox's "The OC," playing a childhood friend from lead character Ryan's (Benjamin McKenzie) days in Chino.
Other credits include "24," "Veritas: The Quest" and WB's shelved "Fearless."
As for Novak, he'll play office intern Ryan in "The Office," and also serve as an executive story editor on the show. He joins previously announced stars Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, Jenna Fischer and John Kasinski.
Greg Daniels ("King of the Hill") is writing and exec producing the U.S. version, along with Ben Silverman and Howard Klein. Universal Network TV and Silverman's Reveille shingle are producing. Novak's repped by WMA and Brillstein-Grey.
Then there's newcomer Palicki, who will play Judy Robinson in the Frog's "The Robinsons: Lost in Space." Role marks the first pro gig for Palicki, who's repped by Innovative and Acronym Ent.
"Lost in Space," which comes from 20th Century Fox TV and Fox TV Studios, is exec produced by Doug Petrie, John Woo, Kevin Burns, Jon Jashni, Terence Change and Suzanne Zizzi.
(Josef Adalian contributed to this report.)
Contact Michael Schneider at
mike.schneider@variety.com