Richard Coyle Cast In Netflix's Sabrina Series
Say hello to Father Blackwood.
The Collection actor Richard Coyle has just joined the cast of Netflix's forthcoming Riverdale companion series centered around the Archie Comics character Sabrina Spellman (via Deadline).
Coyle is on board to portray Father Blackwood, the High Priest of the Church of Night and the Dean of the Academy of the Unseen Arts, opposite Mad Men alum Kiernan Shipka as the titular young witch Sabrina. An ambitious and cutthroat man who's terrifying enough on the surface, Father Blackwood harbors an even darker agenda beneath his chilly exterior, one that will ultimately "put him in direct conflict" with Sabrina, her family, and various members of the coven.
Alongside Coyle and Shipka are Lucy Davis as Hilda Spellman, Sabrina's more relaxed aunt; Miranda Otto as Zelda Spellman, Sabrina's "proud and devout" aunt who is the "Cain to Hilda's Abel;" Jaz Sinclair as Rosalind Walker, Sabrina's closest friend; Michelle Gomez as Mary Wardell, a teacher at Sabrina's high school who transforms into a "sultry, cunning manipulator" after she's possessed by the Devil's handmaiden, Madam Satan; and Chance Perdomo as Ambrose Spellman, Sabrina's "witty, puckish, and pan-sexual" English warlock cousin who lives with the Spellman gals, but isn't allowed to leave the residence after the Witches Council slap him with a house-arrest sentencing. Sabrina's smart-mouthed cat, Salem, also appears in the upcoming series.
Based on the Archie Comics graphic novel The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, the new show tells Sabrina's dark coming-of-age story and layers it with elements of horror, the occult, and, of course, witchcraft. As Sabrina makes sense of her identity as a half-witch, half-mortal being and starts training to become a sorceress, she learns that she must protect her family and the world around her from dangerous unknowns that lurk in the shadows of the night. The unnamed series has often been described as being in the tonal vein of The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby.
Coyle recently popped up in James Graham's Ink on the West End, and recurred in the BBC One and Hulu drama series Hard Son.
Riverdale series creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa penned the script for the pilot episode of the Sabrina series. Lee Toland Krieger will direct the first installment. Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and Archie Comics CEO Jon Goldwater executive produce. As of right now, the show doesn't have a set debut date.