Casting leads and supporting cast in promising new television series can be tricky at best. The casting agent has to find quality actors with experience that will take a chance on a new project and who will also not be so well-known as to break the budget. If the actors are unknown, then the casting agent has the job of discerning outstanding talent. The actors themselves have some hard choices to make. If the actor is established in film, then the actor needs to choose if the new show is the vehicle that introduces their talents to television. New talent needs to choose whether a role will define their careers in the future. Overall, for promising actors, television acting is a minefield.

Below are 5 new faces in 5 new shows where their choices were beneficial to the audience who was lucky enough to witness their emerging talent.

1. ANSON MOUNT: HELL ON WHEELS (AMC)

With Anson Mount we get to witness first-hand the making of the next leading man superstar since the last time we saw Jon Hamm make the same transformation on Mad Men. The difference though between the two actors is almost insurmountable. Where Hamm was a bit actor who had to struggle until his big break, Mount has already been established as an actor of considerable quality and range (TULLY, CITY BY THE SEA, STRAW DOGS) who is known for taking independent and small but challenging roles that highlight his range. He even lent depth and gravitas as Britney Spears’ love interest in CROSSROADS. In HELL ON WHEELS, Mount is absolutely captivating as the L’Amour-ishly named Cullen Bohannon, and the series would never work without an actor of his caliber. The casting is a perfect fit, and it looks like Mount has finally found the quality role that’s been specifically written for his level of talent. Anson Mount is the best new face of the new season. (Also, keep an eye on ATLANTIS: STARGATE and SANCTUARY veteran Christopher Heyerdahl playing “The Swede.”)

2. EVAN PETERS & TAISSA FARMIGA: AMERICAN HORROR STORY (FX)

This compelling but twisted teenage love story – portrayed as one of many creepy and mesmerizing plot points in AMERICAN HORROR STORY – seems more realistic and angst driven than anything portrayed on The CW, MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, and the Disney Channel combined in the last 10 years. Evan Peters stands out as the more interesting of the two teenagers, and further raises his acting credentials by playing son to Jessica Lange’s scene-stealing mother, but it’s through the slow realization of Taissa Farmiga that his character truly becomes revealed (she has her own problems of cutting, etc…) Farmiga is brand new to television while we have seen Evans before in the Chiller Network show INVASION (also recommended). Their characters play beautifully off each other and they are a sight to watch.

3. MICHAEL EMERSON & JIM CAVIEZEL: PERSON OF INTEREST (CBS)

Yes, I can include Jim Caviezel as a “new” face since the miniseries The Prisoner was a horrible mess and nobody watched it and Caviezel better thank his lucky stars that nobody remembers he was the lead in that piece of crap. And I can also name Michael Emerson as a new face because in Lost he wasn’t one of the main characters. Person of Interest is the first hit tv drama that emphasizes the both of them. Conversely, the show or the premise would not work without their mutual collaboration. They both have deep dark secrets that compels them to engage in their thankless task. J.J. Abrams has also brilliantly tapped into a very real fear of all Americans, mainly, that we are already secretly being monitored in all our private moments. So the show has the feel of plausibility.

4. KARINE VANASSE: PAN AM (ABC)

Actually I have enjoyed the interactions of all four stewardesses in this period drama but Vanasse is the actress that has stepped up and added acting subtlety as well as emotional range and depth. Margot Robbie is a bit wooden as a runaway bride turned stewardess. Kelli Garner has been given the ridiculous and over the top storyline of being a CIA spy. And Christina Ricci, as delicious as she is on the screen, is just pounding away on the one note that she is the wild-at-heart rebel. So the task is left up to Karine Vanasse to show actual humanity and keep all the divergent plots together. And she performs this task brilliantly. Keep in mind that the only thing keeping this show afloat is their superb art direction, which is flawless, and includes a complete replica of a life size Pan Am 707 from 1962. The show, I am afraid, will not survive past this season. Fortunately, Karine Vanasse as a considerable talent is no longer a secret and she will be able to find quality work in another series or in films, no doubt.

5. CHANDLER RIGGS: THE WALKING DEAD (AMC)

I know, I know, some of you will cry foul! The Walking Dead is not a new show! Au contraire, mon frere, The Walking Dead never had a proper 1st season with only 6 episodes and what many are witnessing as their 2nd season is in actuality a continuation of the first. I do not understand why AMC is reluctant to really support this show. With the news that show runner Frank Darabont was fired because he fought to prevent a cut in the budget and the fact that current producer Gale Anne Hurd has an uncanny knack to destroy everything she touches, I didn’t have high hopes for the conclusion of the 1st season. Fortunately, the cast is outstanding, with the youngest member of the cast outshining them all. Chandler Riggs is only 12 years old and a star in the making. He is the heart of the survivor group depicted in The Walking Dead and the main reason why they take the risks that they take. With the show becoming more “talky” and showing less zombies (read: more indoor scenes which are cheaper to produce) the strength of the actors has to come to the fore. And no actor can encapsulate the gravitas of their apocalyptic situation than Chandler Riggs portraying the child that everybody feels compelled to protect. Other notable fresh faces in The Walking Dead: Steven Yeun and Norman Reedus (The Boondock Saints).

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Angel Uriel Perales is a poet and journalist currently watching too much television in Studio City, California. You can find his poetry at RUMRAZOR PRESS.

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