Julie Benz

ohn Corbett and Julie Benz lead the cast of TNT’s two-hour movie Ricochet, based on the best-selling book by Sandra Brown. Gary Cole and Kelly Overton co-star in the project, the second entry in the network’s recently announced new TNT Tuesday Night Mystery movie franchise slated to launch in November that will feature six contemporary crime dramas, from true-crime stories to fictional mysteries. Det. Sgt. Duncan Hatcher (Corbett), a sexy Savannah homicide cop, falls hard for Elise Laird (Benz), a dishy damsel-in-distress. She’s married to corrupt Judge Cato Laird (Cole), who consistently subverts Hatcher’s efforts to bring a local drug lord to justice. Things get complicated when Hatcher and his feisty partner, Det. DeeDee Bowen (Overton), are called to the Laird home after Elise supposedly shoots an intruder in self-defense. Production on Ricochet begins next week in New Orleans.

Benz, who is coming off ABC’s superhero drama No Ordinary Family, was available to take on the role because of a recent change in her status on CBS’ upcoming supernatural medical drama A Gifted Man. She was a regular in the pilot, playing the sister of the lead, Michael (Patrick Wilson), an ultra-competitive surgeon whose life is changed when his dead ex-wife (Jennifer Ehle) starts visiting him. The family part of Michael’s life was substantial in the pilot, written by Susannah Grant, but the project has since been retooled by showrunner Neal Baer, an ER veteran, with the focus shifted predominantly to Michael’s medical world, a change underscored by the recent casting of Rachelle Lefevre as a new doctor. With the series becoming essentially a medical drama and the family element taking a back seat, Benz, repped by ICM and Vincent Cirrincione Associates, renegotiated her deal and will now be recurring on the show, allowing her to tackle other projects. Corbett is with CAA.