Sharp Objects Picks up Chris Messina

The Gillian Flynn adaptation has a fine looking cast so far

Big Little Lies is still going strong, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t look forward to the next Jean-Marc Vallée project. That, by the way, would be Sharp Objects, an adaptation of the Gillian Flynn novel of the same name. HBO has slowly been building the cast over the past few months, and now it seems that it’s really starting to fill out.

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According to Deadline, Chris Messina has joined the cast of Big Little Lies. Messina will play Richard Willis, a detective who s brought in to add some support to the police investigation. Messina is most famous for his roles on The Mindy Project and HBO’s own The Newsroom. He also spent some time on Damages, the USA show which starred Glen Close that helped put the network on the map.

Just about all of Sharp Objects’ main cast has now been announced, which is good because the series is still on track to start shooting this month. Sharp Objects, much like Big Little Lies, is only set to run a single season in order to cover the events of the book. That has been a recent trend when it comes to adaptations of novels – not including The Leftovers. Doing so allows for A-list talent to come in when normally they may not want to give up years to a TV show, and it also handily solves the issue of a series or adaptation going on a bit too long. That’s how True Detective was able to get both Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey.

Next: Big Little Lies Recap: Episode 5.

We’re looking forward to Sharp Objects, though we don’t currently know when we can expect to see it. Summer looks to be the earliest possibility, but HBO probably isn’t going to want to schedule anything to take away focus from Game of Thrones.