Pilots: CBS Leads For Matthew Lillard, Will Kemp

Zap2It.com | April 4, 2008

Matthew Lillard

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'Ny-Lon,' 'Exit 19' and 'Can Openers' pick up male leads

A busy day of CBS pilot casting sees Matthew Lillard, Will Kemp and Eion Bailey getting drama work at the network.

Kemp, who was last seen in the spring hit "Step Up 2 The Streets," will play the male lead in "Ny-Lon," opposite Elisha Cuthbert.

Based on the British format, "Ny-Lon" is a dramedy about a New York record store clerk (Cuthbert) and a London stock broker (Kemp) who begin a geographically inconvenient romance.

Other credits for Kemp include "Mindhunters" and "Van Helsing."

Lillard will join Oscar winner Geena Davis in the drama presentation "Exit 19."

David plays a Manhattan homicide detective who's also a single mom. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lillard would play the younger brother of Davis' character.

Lillard, best known for "Scream" and "Scooby-Doo," has done pilots the past two development seasons, toplining the treasure-hunting adventure "13 Graves" and the alien comedy "Area 57."

The CBS casting department must have watched "Mindhunters" over the weekend, because Bailey is another veteran of the Renny Harlin thriller. The actor, whose credits also include "Band of Brothers" and "Significant Others," will play a chief resident in "Can Openers," the neurosurgery drama toplined by Lauren Lee Smith.

Meanwhile, over at FOX, Yara Martinez has landed a role in the network's version of "Spaced." Sara Rue and Josh Lawson star as strangers who pretend to be married in order to rent an apartment. Martinez would play the best friend of Rue's character.