While earlier, adult castings have been announced for the Showtime television series based on Let The Right One In, the most important casting question was: who will play the vampire child and the shy neighbor who befriends her? Well, Madison Taylor Baez and Ian Foreman have now officially joined the cast of the drama pilot as the two children at the blood-pumping heart of the romantic horror series.
Demián Bichir (The Hateful Eight) plays the father of Eleanor (Baez). Eleanor is the little girl who, after a mysterious animal bite, begins to transform into a fearsome creature of the night—a vampire. Foreman’s character, the timid and bullied Isaiah, befriends his neighbor Eleanor unaware of her condition.
Other cast announcements include Kevin Carroll (Blindspotting), Jacob Buster (Colin In Black & White), Anika Noni Rose (The Princess And The Frog, Dreamgirls), Grace Gummer (Frances Ha), and Larry Pine (The Royal Tenenbaums). Carroll plays Zeke Dawes, Mark’s close friend who’s aware of Eleanor’s condition. Eleanor is not the only child with this blood thirsty problem though. Buster will appear as Peter, a sweet child whose father accidentally releases a monster when testing a potential cure on him. Disease specialist and heiress to a pharmaceutical empire Claire will be played by Gummer. According to Variety, Larry Pine plays recurring character Arthur, a “brilliant scientist and CEO of a pharmaceutical company.”
Let The Right One In is based off the novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist of the same name, with Swedish and American film adaptations made in 2008 and 2010. TNT originally sought a TV series based on Let The Right One In back in 2015, with Teen Wolf showrunner Jeff Davis on board, but it never made it past the pilot. The Showtime series pilot is led by showrunner Andrew Hinderaker (Penny Dreadful) and director Seith Mann (Homeland, Elementary).
Foreman will also appear in the forthcoming Dogwood series and previously starred in the film Merry Wish-Mas. Baez played the young Selena Quintanilla in Netflix’s Selena: The Series and, at ten years old, she is considered a musical prodigy for her vocal talents. Following her performances at L.A. Rams, Dodgers, and Lakers games, Baez became known as the “Anthem Girl.”