Casting Couch: Sewell Clocks in on "Eleventh Hour"

The US adaptation of UK limited series Eleventh Hour has found its leading man.

Rufus Sewell (The Illusionist) has been cast as the lead in CBS drama pilot Eleventh Hour, where he'll play Jacob Hood, a science adviser to the US government who investigates and saves people from science-related abuses, along with his trusted female bodyguard, a role that has yet to be cast.

Sewell's character was originally played by Patrick Stewart in the UK limited series; his bodyguard was played by Ugly Betty's Ashley Jensen. The US drama pilot was written by Mick Davis and will be directed by CSI pilot director Danny Cannon.

While Sewell has gone on to appear in many film and television projects, I'll most likely remember him best for his turn in Dark City... and the 1995 adaptation of Stella Gibbons' novel Cold Comfort Farm, where he played Seth Starkadder opposite such luminaries as Kate Beckinsale, Stephen Fry, Freddie Jones, Joanna Lumley, Ian McKellen, and Miriam Margolyes.

Bonus points to the reader who can recall Ada Doom's oft-repeated words in the book and the film...