Casting Couch: Amy Acker Takes a "Drive" with FOX

Looks like the Whedon-verse is starting to come together again. Sort of.

Actress Amy Acker, best known for her roles as scientist-turned-monster hunter Winifred "Fred" Burkle and monster hunter-turned-ancient goddess Illyria on Angel (and a recurring stint on the final season of Alias), has joined the cast of FOX's midseason drama Drive.

Drive, of course, is the brainchild of Tim Minear, who created Firefly with Joss Whedon. Whedon is himself currently shooting an episode of NBC's The Office to air during February sweeps. (Here's hoping that Pam's ex-fiance Roy, ably played by David Denman, will have a part to play in the episode. After all, he did recur as the demon Skip on Whedon's Angel.)

Still with me? Here's the best bit: Acker will play Kathryn, the wife of landscaper Alex Tully, whose kidnapping by a shadowy syndicate forces Alex into the illegal (and very dangerous) underground race that propels the plot of Drive. And Alex is played by none other than Captain Tightpants himself, better known as Nathan Fillion, who starred on Whedon and Minear's Firefly and recurred in the final season of Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Whew.

TimMinear.net has listed the rest of the reconstituted cast assembled in Drive, which kicks off on FOX in March, and includes: Kristin Lehman, Melanie Lynskey, Dylan Baker, Emma Stone, Kevin Alejandro, J.D. Pardo, Riley Smith, Mircea Monroe, Taryn Manning, Michael Hyatt, Rochelle Aytes, Charles Martin Smith, Brian Bloom, Richard Brooks, Wayne Grace, and K Callan.

Meanwhile, FOX unveiled its midseason schedule today, which includes a two-night, 3-hour launch for Drive, beginning Sunday, April 15th.

The series will air in its normal Mondays at 8 pm timeslot, once its been vacated by Prison Break (which wraps its second season a bit earlier than expected), beginning April 16th.

While I was a little less than impressed by the original pilot of Drive (shot last year with Ivan Sergei in the Nathan Fillion role), I'm really looking forward to seeing the new version, with its new cast and a slightly altered direction.

Stay tuned as I try to get my greedy little mitts on the premiere episode.