Two more actors have been announced today for the already growing cast of the upcoming Hulu series Immigrant (still not the official title, though), as Deadline reveals. Quentin Plair and Nicola Peltz have joined in to tell the incredible story of Chippendales – a small-time business which evolved into a big-time business and then went as south as it could, with the people involved dragged into a whirlwind of deception, gross money mishandling, and believe it or not, murder.
The two actors join previously announced Annaleigh Ashford (Masters of Sex), Murray Bartlett (The White Lotus), and leading man Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick) – the latter of whom will play Chippendale founder Somen “Steve” Banerjee, a man who immigrated from India to Playa del Rey in California in search of a better life. He strikes gold by turning a seedy bar into a must-visit nighttime attraction, and could live happily ever after if, you know, he hadn’t plotted to kill all his associates.
Plair signed on to play Otis, the only Black dancer at LA’s Chippendales who ends up falling out with the club’s owner over the club's policy on race. And no, it's not a good policy. Plair was recently in The Quad and in The CW’s reboot series Roswell, New Mexico. His first big part in a feature film was in Netflix’s Burning Sands, about extreme violence and humiliation suffered by pledgees during hazing.
Peltz will embody Dorothy Stratten, a former Playboy Playmate who participated in the founding of the male strip club along with Banerjee. Peltz started her acting career big, participating in blockbusters such as The Last Airbender and Transformers: Age of Extinction. She then landed a recurring role in the A&E chilling series Bates Motel. She was recently in the Netflix film Holidate along with Emma Roberts and Luke Bracey.
Aside from the casting news, Hulu also announced a change in the director’s chair. Ramin Bahrani (99 Homes) is stepping down and being replaced by three-time Emmy nominee Matt Shakman. The new director has extensive experience helming TV episodes, having acted in the position in TV series like Everwood, House, M.D., Game of Thrones, The Good Wife, and a load of episodes from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. However, his Emmy nominations only came with recent shows: he received a nod for directing all episodes of Marvel’s WandaVision and the pilot of Hulu’s The Great. Shakman is set to develop Immigrant along with creator and writer Robet Siegel (Pam & Tommy).
Hulu is yet to reveal the official title for Immigrant, along with a release date, and… more cast members? We’ll be on the lookout.