“I hear the pilot had a table read at the top of last week and had filmed for a couple of days when Davis departed earlier this week. Marcia Gay Harden is currently in talks to replace her in the role. There are no reports about the reasoning why yet. And according to the report, she left after production on the pilot had already begun.
She was set to star opposite Skylar Astin. in Theatre and an MFA from the Graduate Acting program at New York University.The 66-year-old Thelma & Louise star has abruptly left the upcoming CBS untitled mother and son legal drama pilot from Scott Prendergast, Deadline reported.
Marcia graduated from the University of Texas with a B.A. On the television front Marcia co-starred in the critically acclaimed FX drama Damages opposite William Hurt and Glenn Close. Macy, Morgan Freeman, and Christopher Walken, CANVAS, RAILS AND TIES, Stephen King's THE MIST (for which she won a Saturn Award,) Sean Penn's INTO THE WILD, and THE CHRISTMAS COTTAGE with Peter O'Toole. Recent films include Drew Barrymore's directorial debut WHIP IT, in which her daughter Eulala Scheel also had a co-starring role, THE MAIDEN HEIST with William H. Earlier this year, Marcia starred in Lifetime's The Amanda Knox Story, portraying Amanda's mother Edda Mellas opposite Hayden Panettiere. She also recently reprised her Emmy Award nominated role on NBC's Law and Order: SVU. Marcia recently finished production on three indie feature films, SOMEDAY THIS PAIN WILL BE USEFUL TO YOU, co-starring Peter Gallagher and Ellen Burstyn and IF I WERE YOU co-starring Aidan Quinn and Valerie Mahaffey. Other nominations include a Tony nomination for Tony Kushner's Angels in America (for which she won the Drama Desk and Theatre World Awards), an Emmy nomination for her guest appearance on Law and Order: SVU, also an Independent Spirit Award nomination for AMERICAN GUN.
That same year, she was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for her role in The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler. Additionally, she received an Outer Circle Critics Award for her performance, as well as nominations from the Drama Desk and Drama League. Her fellow-nominated co-stars in the play included James Gandolfini, Hope Davis and Jeff Daniels. In 2009, it was her exceptional Broadway performance in this starring role that garnered her the Best Actress Tony Award. This spring Harden reprised the role she originated on Broadway in the Tony Award winning play God of Carnage along with the original cast with a tremendously successful stage run at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles. Marcia has chosen a life away from mainstream Hollywood, crossing between independent and studio films, and television and theatre. Her versatility and wide-range have been praised in such films as MILLERS CROSSING, THE FIRST WIVES CLUB, MEET JOE BLACK, MONA LISA SMILE, THE HOAX, and USED PEOPLE. From the glamorous Ava Gardner in SINATRA, to the artist Lee Krasner in POLLOCK (for which she won Best Supporting Actress Oscar), to the down and out Celeste in MYSTIC RIVER (another Academy Award nomination) Marcia has created a signature style based in character transformation. Her character portraits have been described by critics as searing, heartbreaking, inventive, pure and profane simultaneously, astonishing, authentic, and sensuous.
Award-winning actress Marcia Gay Harden has forged a remarkable body of work, always staying true to her chameleon style of becoming the character.