Crystal Fox joins Cable Guy pilot at Hulu as a series regular
Crystal Fox has joined Hulu’s Cable Guy pilot, playing the mother of Damon Wayans Jr. and Natasha Rothwell’s characters.
By Bianca Rossi · Entertainment Editor
3 min read
Crystal Fox is joining the Cable Guy pilot at Hulu, with Deadline reporting that the actor has been added as a series regular on the untitled project from Hulu and Sony Pictures Television.
Fox joins a cast that already includes Jake Johnson, Damon Wayans Jr. and Natasha Rothwell, according to Deadline. The pilot is inspired by the 1996 Jim Carrey film The Cable Guy, though the report says the TV project is being built as its own take rather than a straight remake.
Who is Crystal Fox playing in the Cable Guy pilot?
Fox will play Lynette, the mother of Steven, played by Wayans Jr., and Gina, played by Rothwell, Deadline reported. Lynette is worried that Steven is drifting after a breakup, while she also gets pulled into various corners of social media.
The pilot centers on Chip Douglas, an old-school cable technician played by Johnson, according to the project description reported by Deadline. In the story, Chip is alone in a world now ruled by streaming services, binge-watching and algorithms until Steven Stephens asks to have his cable service restored.
That call brings Chip back into contact with a childhood friend he has not forgotten, according to Deadline’s description of the show. Their renewed bond gives both men something they have been missing, before Chip’s intense excitement tips into obsession.
Deadline reported that the series will look at the darker, stranger side of modern male friendship. The project is connected to the Jim Carrey movie as inspiration, but the team behind it is approaching the show as a fresh creation that nods to the original, with Deadline comparing the approach to how Fargo became a television series connected to the Coen brothers film.
Who is making Hulu’s Cable Guy pilot?
Johnson and Wayans Jr. are also executive producers on the pilot, Deadline reported. Rob Rosell, Joe Piarulli and Luan Thomas are serving as co-showrunners, with Rosell and Piarulli co-writing the pilot.
Neal H. Moritz and Pavun Shetty of Original Film are also executive producers, according to Deadline. Sony Pictures Television is producing the project.
Fox has a long television and film résumé. Deadline noted that she is known for playing Sgt. LuAnn Corbin on In the Heat of the Night and Hanna Young on Tyler Perry’s The Haves and Have Nots.
Her recent credits include Netflix’s His & Hers, where she played Tessa Thompson’s mother, and Apple TV’s The Big Door Prize, where she played Mayor Izzy, according to Deadline.
Fox’s film and television work also includes A Fall From Grace on Netflix, in which she had her first leading film role, as well as HBO’s Big Little Lies, Driving Miss Daisy, Burden, Separate But Equal, Mama Flora’s Family and the PBS adaptation of The Old Settler. Deadline reported that she is represented by Artium Talent and attorney Jeff Bernstein.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.