EXCLUSIVE: CBS‘ Elsbeth will count on three additional guest stars for its Season 1 cast: Elizabeth Lail (Five Nights At Freddy’s), Arian Moayed (Succession) and Laura Benanti (The Gilded Age).
Elsbeth follows the titular Elsbeth Tascioni (Carrie Preston), an astute but unconventional attorney, who utilizes her singular point of view to make unique observations and corner brilliant criminals alongside the NYPD following her successful career in Chicago. The character first appeared in The Good Wife and later in The Good Fight spinoff.
In addition to Preston, Wendell Pierce and Carra Patterson round out the series regular cast, as Captain Wagner and Kaya Blanke, respectively. Gloria Reuben recurs as Wagner’s wife, Claudia Payne. The cast is small as the police procedural dramedy depends on a healthy supply of guest stars like Stephen Moyer, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Linda Lavin and Blair Underwood, to name a few.
Lail portrays Quinn, the hot young tech CEO known for her location-based crime alert app, “Cerberus.” Quinn uses her charm and privilege to hook investors, and she’ll even use her app to deceive the authorities when she gets up to criminal activity herself. Moayed portrays Joe, the charismatic owner of an exclusive TriBeCa cocktail bar. Joe considers his establishment a refuge from this crazy world and dotes on his regulars like family. He is wildly generous, seethes at injustice, and will go to murderous lengths to punish a bully from his favorite patron’s past. Benanti portrays Nadine, a glamorous, smart and determined supermodel who is retiring from the runway while dealing with a messy divorce from her designer husband. A well-respected force in the fashion industry, Nadine will do anything to stop some disgraceful information about her from coming to light.
Elsbeth is produced by CBS Studios. The show is co-created and executive produced by Robert King and Michelle King along with Liz Glotzer and Jonathan Tolins, who also serves as showrunner.
Lail recently starred in Blumhouse’s Five Nights At Freddy’s, based on the video game series of the same name. She will also be seen in the upcoming indie film Gonzo Girl, directed by Patricia Arquette and starring Willem Dafoe. She recently appeared in the comedy film Mack & Rita opposite Diane Keaton. She is best known for her lead role as ‘Beck’ in Netflix’s You and starred as ‘Jenny’ in NBC’s drama series Ordinary Joe. Lail is repped by Authentic Talent & Literary Management, CAA and Shreck Rose Dapello Adams.
Moayed was most recently seen opposite Jessica Chastain in the Broadway production of A Doll’s House, for which he was nominated for a 2023 Tony Award. He received two Emmy nominations for his work as ‘Stewy’ in the HBO series Succession. Additional TV credits include Inventing Anna, Love Life and Ms. Marvel. As part of Waterwell Films, Moayed wrote and directed the digital series The Accidental Wolf. Up next, he can be seen on the big screen in House of Spoils for Blumhouse opposite Ariana DeBose. Moayed is repped by Kipperman Management and Schreck Rose Dapello Adams.
Tony Award-winner Benanti recently starred in Sony Pictures’ No Hard Feelings and Netflix’s Worth. She can be seen in Max’s The Gilded Age and Hulu’s Life & Beth. She was award a Tony Award for her role in Gypsy. Most recently, she debuted an original musical comedy show for Audible titled Nobody Cares, which she created, wrote and starred in.