Here's a TV casting roundup:

  • Riley Keough has been cast as the female lead in Stephen Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Experience, a 13-episode Starz series inspired by the movie.
  • Drea de Matteo and Ray Liotta are joining the NBC police drama Shades of Blue, which stars Jennifer Lopez.
  • In non-horrible Cosby Show alumni news, Phylicia Rashad has been added to the pilot of CBS' drama For Justice, based on James Patterson's novel The Thomas Berryman Number, and directed by Selma's Ava DuVernay.

Now for the breakdown:

First up: Shades of Blue. The series received a 13-episode straight-to-series order last year, and will be written by Adi Hasak.

drea-de-matteo-shades-of-blue-casting

According to TV Line, Matteo will play alongside Lopez as a tough cop whose brashness covers up her insecurities (ya don't say?), while Liotta will feature -- in his first series-regular role since 2006 -- as a mysterious and resourceful Lieutenant, who is paternally protective over his unit of corrupt cops.

Meanwhile, Variety reports that CBS' For Justice will see Rashad as "a savvy Washington player who has faced discrimination for her race and sexual orientation, and fights to protect the independence and integrity of her high-profile Civil Rights Division."

Rene Balcer (Law & Order) has written the pilot, and will serve as an executive producer along with DuVernay, Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, James Patterson, Bill Robinson and Leopoldo Gout.

Finally, as for The Girlfriend Experience, Keough will play Christina Reade,

... a law student at the University of Chicago and an intern at a prestigious law firm, who is intrigued when a friend introduces her to the world of transactional relationships. Attracted to the rush of control and easy money, Christine has to confront her own conflicting identities. She learns to navigate and manipulate the big personalities in both worlds to get what she wants, in the process becoming a quasi-lover and confidant to men who are willing to pay richly for her time, offering a service known as a GFE (Girlfriend Experience).

The half-hour anthology series will be written and directed by the indie filmmakers Lodge Kerrigan and Amy Seimetz, with Soderbergh serving as an executive producer.