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Former soap star Kevin Schmidt (ex-Noah, Y&R) has landed a role in ABC’s Sea of Fire, a mystery drama surrounding a scandal, murder and disappearance of a teenage girl.
Sea of Fire, based on Dutch format Vuurzee, centers on three teenage girls in a small town who star in a pornographic film and the effect it has on their families. It leads to a disappearance, a murder and host of other secrets boiling under the surface.
The series was in development last year with a different writer attached, but didn’t move past the script pitch. It entered into redevelopment, this time under writer-producer Jenna Bans (Off the Map) who cut her teeth working under ABC hit maker Shonda Rhimes on Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice and most recently Scandal, where she serves as a producer.
Kevin Schmidt will play Zander Harper, the troubled boyfriend of Jane McAllister, one of the girls on the film who goes missing. Zander is among the list of suspects in her disappearance. Nashville’s Christina Chang will play Kristen, Zander’s mother.
Known for his role on CBS’ The Young and the Restless as Noah Newman, the son of supercouple Nick and Sharon Newman. The actor appeared regularly from 2008-2010 before taking a hiatus to film Cartoon Network’s Unnatural History. Later that summer, he announced he wasn’t asked to return and thus the role would be recast. In 2011, Schmidt was re-hired, returning to the series on recurring. Schmidt was let go a year later after a behind-the-scenes overhaul at Y&R. The role was recast with Hollywood Heights star Robert Adamson.
Dexter’s Jennifer Carpenter plays FBI agent Leah Pierce — a driven, eccentric and blunt woman with little people skills and is haunted by a secret past. She comes to town to investigate the disappearance of a teenage girl, Jane, and ends up alienating most of the town with her raw and uncompromising questions.
Smash’s Jack Davenport stars as Sheriff Marty Kesowich, the town’s easy-going law enforcer. He’s deeply concerned over troubles at home, most of which center on his suicidal wife, Laura (The Walking Dead’s Lilli Birdsell). The bright spot of his life is his daughter, Merel (Home & Away star Isabelle Cornish), the seemingly perfect poster child for success, but he’s shocked to discover his daughter isn’t quite who he thought she was. After Merel’s best friend Jane disappears, Marty fears his daughter might be involved. When Agent Pierce comes to town, Marty grapples with his conflicting loyalties — does he uphold the law and commit to the investigation 100 percent, or does he do what he can to protect his daughter when evidence mounts against her?
Additional cast includes Jeffrey Nordling (Rake), Zoe Soul and Keir Gilchrist (United States of Tara). Nordling has been cast in the pilot as the town’s minister and Jane’s father. Soul plays Sonya Harper, Zander’s sister and one of the teen girls in the pornographic film. She is Jane’s other best friend. Gilchrist will play Rudy, the town’s drug dealer.
Bans will executive produce the series with Scripted World’s Rob Golenberg and Alon Aranya (Hostages), Mandeville’s David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Laurie Zaks and Robert Kievit & Frank Ketelaar of VARA.
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