Netflix will exclusively launch worldwide in 2017 the new comedy series Santa Clarita Diet, from writer Victor Fresco (Better Off Ted, Andy Richter Controls the Universe).
“The genius of casting Timothy and Drew, combined with my comedic… oh wait, that’s Cindy’s quote. I agree with what Cindy is about to say,” said executive producer/showrunner Victor Fresco:
“The genius casting of Timothy and Drew combined with Victor’s unique comedic sensibility will delight, and definitely surprise, our members around the world,” said Cindy Holland, Netflix vice president of original content.
In the single-camera series, Joel (Timothy Olyphant, Justified) and Sheila (Drew Barrymore, Blended) are husband and wife realtors leading vaguely discontented lives in the L.A. suburb of Santa Clarita, until Sheila goes through a dramatic change sending both their lives down a road of death and destruction.
Santa Clarita Diet is a Netflix production, with showrunner Victor Fresco, Drew Barrymore, Timothy Olyphant, Aaron Kaplan, Tracy Katsky, Chris Miller and Ember Truesdell as executive producers on the series. Nancy Juvonen is a producer.
Timothy Olyphant is known for his roles in both dramas and comedies. For the last six seasons, Timothy starred in and produced the critically acclaimed FX drama series Justified, which is based on Elmore Leonard’s short story Fire in the Hole. Olyphant was nominated for an Emmy for his role as “US Marshal Raylan Givens.”
Last year, he recurred on the new FOX comedy series The Grinder opposite Rob Lowe, which earned him the award for “Guest Actor in a Comedy Series” at the 2016 Critics Choice Awards. He has guest starred on comedy series such as The Office, The Mindy Project, FX’s The League, My Name Is Earl, and Sex and the City.
Olyphant has also had roles in cult classics such as playing a porn producer in Fox’s The Girl Next Door, a drug dealer in Doug Liman’s GO and the town Sheriff “Seth Bullock” in David Milch’s HBO series Deadwood (Screen Actors Guild nominee). He can next be seen in theaters co-starring in Gary Marshall’s Mother’s Day opposite Jennifer Aniston and Oliver Stone’s Snowden opposite Joseph Gordon Levitt. Open Road is releasing both films in April and September respectively.
Drew Barrymore was born in Culver City, California, into an acting family that includes, among many others, her grandfather John Barrymore and grand-uncle Lionel Barrymore, she started performing in commercials before her first birthday. At age six she was chosen by director Steven Spielberg to co-star as ‘Gertie’ in E.T.: The Extraterrestrial. Once the film was released to overall acclaim in 1982, the young actress had instantly become a movie star.
Much in demand as a child performer, she starred in such well-received films as Firestarter, Irreconcilable Differences, See You in the Morning and Cat’s Eye.
As she became an adult, she continued her prolific output of work by starring in the popular motion pictures Bad Girls, Boys on the Side, Mad Love, Batman Forever, director Woody Allen’s Everyone Says I Love You and the blockbuster Scream.
In 1995, she set out to become involved in films as a producer, creating Flower Films with partner Nancy Juvonen. Their first production was the 1999 comedy Never Been Kissed, followed by the box office hit Charlie’s Angels in 2000. Firmly established as a production powerhouse, Flower Films subsequently produced the features 50 First Dates, cult favorite Donnie Darko, Duplex, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, Music and Lyrics,Fever Pitch, He’s Just Not That Into You and Whip It.
Drew won a 2009 Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award for her role as fallen heiress Edith Bouvier Beale in the lauded HBO production of Grey Gardens. Last fall Drew starred in Miss You Already with Toni Collette and also published a book of essays, Wildflower, which was a five week New York Times Best Seller. Most recently she executive produced this springs comedy How to be Single for Warner Bros.
