Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: Meet the first new star of Dallas — Jordana Brewster has been tapped for a lead role in the TNT pilot, the first new cast member to join the reboot of the classic soap.

The pilot, from writer Cynthia Cidre and Warner Horizon, centers on the offspring of bitter rivals and brothers J.R. and Bobby Ewing – J.R.’s son, John Ross, and Bobby and Pam Ewing’s adopted son, Christopher – who clash over the future of the Ewing dynasty while the fate of Southfork itself weighs in the balance. Brewster will play Elena, the gorgeous daughter of the ranch’s cook who is locked into a love triangle with Christopher and John.

Brewster joins Dallas alums Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray who are set to reprise their roles from the original series as Bobby and Sue Ellen, respectively. After months of negotiations, fellow Dallas star Larry Hagman, who played the Machiavellian J.R., recently stated that he had verbally committed to the project but is yet to sign a deal, something that could happen next week. Hagman had been holding out for money, prompting the studio and the network to come up with a Plan B, with Cidre writing an alternative pilot script  in which Hagman’s J.R. is only represented through flashbacks from the original series. Brewster, repped by CAA and Management 360, has recurred on Chuck and Dark Blue and next reprises her role as Mia Toretto in the upcoming The Fast and the Furious sequel Fast Five.

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