Deadline is reporting that former Disney Channel star Debby Ryan (Jessie) has signed on to star in The CW’s beauty pageant pilot Insatiable. She’ll be playing Patty, a vengeful, bullied teen who’s the daughter of an alcoholic that just got their 60 day AA chip.
From Lauren Gussis (Dexter) and executive produced by former American Idol host Ryan Seacrest, Insatiable follows Patty, a shy wallflower who drops 70 pounds once she breaks her jaw and becomes more conventionally attractive as a result. Already not used to having all eyes on her when she enters any room, her life takes an unexpected turn when her lawyer Bob, who’s also a beauty pageant coach, offers to turn her into a professional beauty queen, but what he doesn’t realize is the hell he’s about to unleash upon the world.
In addition to her role on the Disney comedy, Ryan has appeared on the likes of The Suite Life on Deck, Sing It!, and The Mysteries of Laura. She’s also set to appear on VH1’s upcoming drama Daytime Divas, which is set to premiere later this year.
Insatiable is one of six CW pilots currently in contention for 2017-18, joining fantasy-themed Searchers, soapy reboot Dynasty, military drama Valor, DC-verse entrant Black Lightning, and cancer dramedy Life Sentence. Casting for every project should continue over the next few weeks, with decisions on which pilots get series orders to come in early May.
Each of the six pilots will be fighting for schedule space with the shows The CW has yet to issue a renewal decision on — Frequency, No Tomorrow, The 100, The Originals, and iZombie. It’s as yet unclear how many pilots The CW will be picking up to series, but with The Vampire Diaries and Reign set to conclude at the end of this season, there could be anywhere from 2-3 more current shows cancelled, depending on how they feel about their pilots.
