Last month, the new batch of casting announcements arrived for Stephen King-based series Castle Rock as work began on Season 2. There's been a key change among the fresh faces, as Paul Sparks has been hired to replace Garett Hedlund in the show.
Hedlund had been cast as John “Ace” Merrill, Castle Rock’s legendary bully and the nephew of Reginald "Pop" Merrill (Tim Robbins), the patriarch of a local crime family. Now, according to Deadline, a creative decision has been made about the character and Hedlund, who had shot a handful of scenes, is out. Potentially, we could chalk this up as a decision to age up the character, as Hedlund is 34 and Sparks 47.
The storyline for Season 2 sees budding psychopath and nurse Annie Wilkes (Lizzy Caplan) waylaid in the already weird town as a feud between warring clans (one of which is the Merrills) comes to the boil. The likes of Yusra Warsama, Barkhad Abdi, Elsie Fisher and Matthew Alan are also all aboard.
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