‘Ash vs. Evil Dead’ adds Lucy Lawless and Mimi Rogers to cast

The Evil Dead television series is shaping up in the Kiwi nation where filming has started. But who are Lucy Lawless and Mimi Rogers playing in the latest series?

Starz latest series, Ash vs. Evil Dead, is a spin-off of the highly popular and homaged zombie film series.

Shot in Penrose, New Zealand, series director Sam Raimi (Xena, Spider-Man) is Auckland to film Lucy Lawless (Battlestar Galatica, Salem) as Ruby, the possible source of all undead activity. Or so the New Zealand Herald reports. And of course being the center of an outbreak is sure to endear Ruby to Ash.

This isn’t Lawless’s first take on a Starz series, though. Playing cruel Roman Lucretia in Spartacus reunited the director and actress, along with her executive producer husband Robert Tapert, after Xena went off-the-air.

The Kiwi paper confirms Raimi will be director the first episode and is thrilled to be involved again. Meanwhile, Lucy will be working with Bruce Campbell again. Previously the two worked on Xena, where Campbell played the irascible thief Autolycus, sometimes partner and sometimes hindrance in Greek warrior’s friendly circle.

Not really that different from the “aging lothario and chainsaw-handed monster hunter who has spent the last 30 years avoiding responsibility, maturity and the terrors of the Evil Dead” that The Hollywood Reporter describes.

Ep 101 table read couple weeks ago w/ @GroovyBruce @MsJillMJones @ImDanaDeLorenzo. #AshvsEvilDead @AshvsEvilDead pic.twitter.com/oQ5w2V77wU— aaron lam (@aaronlam) /4/4, 2015

The entertainment paper also claims the Ash vs. Evil Dead will have a fall premiere date. Joining to the cast is Mimi Rogers (Mad Men, Austin Powers). Playing Suzy Maxwell, mother to moody Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo), don’t expect a lot of maternal instincts and super sappy moments.

Reunited with her loved ones and a few unwelcome and unexpected surprises, Suzy must also deal with the world as Evil Dead start to rise. Never upset the dead unless you have a chain saw attached at all times.

Ash vs. Evil Dead is set to be 10-episodes long and will be Campbell’s first television series since Burn Notice ended in 2013. Sam Axe, an aging Casanova and former CIA agent, helped out buddy Michael Weston (Jeffrey Donovan) after being burned by the organization and left in Miami to flounder.

There /4/be a role theme running throughout his career, though. In the meantime, Campbell can currently be seen on the web-series Stay Filthy, Cali.

Other returning members of the series and New Zealand family are Raimi’s brother and co-executive producer Ivan (Army of Darkness), writer Tom Spezialy (Chuck), and showrunner Craig DiGregorio (Workaholics, Chuck). Spartacus’s Aaron Lam and Chloe Smith will produce. On screen talent will include Ray Santiago (Meet the Fockers) and Jill Marie Jones (Sleepy Hollow).

Look for the first episode later this year.

Sources: New Zealand Herald, The Hollywood Reporter