'Let The Right One In' Showtime Series Rounds Out Its Cast Of Vampires And Victims

The Showtime series Let the Right One In, inspired by the Swedish novel of the same name, has cast the rest of its leads. Apart from the father-daughter duo played by Demián Bichir and Madison Taylor Baez, Showtime announced additional cast members and their characters, and it appears the series diverge pretty significantly from the novel and previous film adaptations.

Variety reports that Kevin Carroll will play Zeke Dawes, a successful restauraunt owner who is friends with Mark. Jacob Buster will play Peter, a young boy who suffers from the same strange condition as Eleanor. Ian Foreman will play Isaiah, a quiet and sensitive soul who befriends Eleanor but has no idea how monstrous she can become.

After moving from A&E to Showtime, the series had cast Demián Bichir as Mark, a husband and father whose life is turned upside down when his daughter Eleanor is bitten by a mysterious creature. Madison Taylor Baez will play Eleanor, who gains strange vampiric powers and an unusual illness after being bitten

If the series follows the romantic throughline between John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel and both film adaptations, it's likely that Isaiah and Eleanor are taking on the roles of Oskar and Eli (or Owen and Abbi, in Let Me In). They will be the series main leads, though the introduction of a second vampire child character (Peter) definitely changes things up a bit.

The "father" figure in all of the previous adaptations hasn't been the vampiric child's father at all, which makes the familial relationship between Mark and Eleanor more interesting. Instead of an older vampiric servant/possible pedophile, the young vampire has a parent who cares for her. I'll be curious to see how the series handles its young vampires struggling with their human bonds. According to Variety, Peter will have a more complicated relationship with his own father, who attempts to cure him of his vampirism and unleashes a monster instead.

In Tomas Alfredson's Let the Right One In film adaptation, as well as the novel, Eli has more secrets than just vampirism. They are also revealed to have been born male and castrated at some point. There are worlds of queer subtext to explore, but it's unlikely the Showtime series will take that route this time.

Showrunner Andrew Hinderaker (Penny Dreadful) will executive produce along with Seith Mann (Homeland, Blindspotting), who will also direct the pilot. Anika Noni Rose and Grace Gummer will also star. Larry Pine (Succession) has been cast in the pilot as Arthur, a brilliant scientist and CEO of a pharmaceutical company (who probably helps try to cure the adolescent bloodsuckers).