EXCLUSIVE: Gabrielle Dennis (A Black Lady Sketch Show), Damon Gupton (Super Pumped), Arrow alum Josh Segarra and newcomer Sammy Fourlas are set to star alongside Chris O’Dowd in Apple’s The Big Door Prize, a half-hour comedy based on M.O. Walsh’s bestselling novel. The series hails from Emmy-winning Schitt’s Creek writer/executive producer David West Read, Skydance Television and Parasite producer CJ ENM/Studio Dragon.
The Big Door Prize tells the story of a small town that is forever changed when a mysterious machine appears in the grocery store, promising to reveal each resident’s true life potential.
Dennis will play Cass. She has been with Dusty (O’Dowd) since high school and has maintained a veneer of contentedness in her quiet domestic life, but her pleasant persona is about to crack and fissure in an earthquake of self-discovery.
Gupton will portray Father Rueben, the trusted school chaplain at Deerfield High. He is relied upon for emotional and spiritual guidance, not only by Deerfield’s students but also the staff. He privately is going through his own crisis.
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Segarra will play Giorgio. As a former hockey player, he’s a local celebrity, the owner of a combination Italian restaurant and sports center and widely recognized as Deerfield’s most eligible bachelor.
Fourlas will portray Jacob, a sweet-natured, sensitive soul who works at the local general store and is struggling after the death of his identical twin brother.
O’Dowd’s Dusty is a good-natured teacher and family man whose deeply average life has followed a safe and predictable path, until the appearance of the mystifying machine forces him to question his own happiness.
Read, who is writing the adaptation, will serve as showrunner and executive produce alongside Miky Lee and Hyun Park of CJ ENM/Studio Dragon and David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Bill Bost of Skydance Television. The series will be produced by Skydance Television and CJ ENM/Studio Dragon.
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This is a third concurrent main series role for Dennis, who stars in HBO’s The Black Lady Sketch Show — which has been renewed for a third season — and Netflix sitcom The Upshaws. Her other credits include Rosewood, Luke Cage, The Bobby Brown Story and The Game. Dennis is repped by the Gersh Agency.
Gupton will next be seen in Apple TV+’s upcoming limited series The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey. His other credits include Super Pumped and Goliath. Gupton is repped by Brookside, SMS Talent and HCKR.
Segarra next will be seen in Marvel’s She-Hulk alongside Tatiana Maslany. His credits include The Other Two and playing Adrian Chase on Arrow. Segarra is repped by ATA Management, CAA and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.
Actor, writer and content creator Fourlas is known for his original comedic sketches on TikTok, which he writes and produces and have drawn millions of views. The Big Door Prize is his television acting debut. He’s repped by Paradigm.
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