Syfy has issued a press release officially confirming the casting of the legendary Linda Hamilton (Terminator, Beauty And The Beast) as a guest star in the second season of Defiance. At the recent NBCUniversal Summer Press Day, Executive Producer Kevin Murphy described her character Pilar as “an amazing character that will simultaneously make you cry and scare the crap out of you.” Grant Bowler (Nolan) described her as “absolutely amazing and a great addition to have coming into Season 2 of our show.”
“Linda has got this power and this status and she is quite scary too, but there’s such a warmth about her with it. She’s so earthy that it was just an amazing scene to be in with her,” Jaime Murray (Stahma) added.
Here’s the press release from Syfy:
NEW YORK – April 10, 2014 – Linda Hamilton joins the season two cast of Syfy’s highly-rated and groundbreaking drama series, Defiance, in the recurring guest role of Pilar, the mysterious and long-separated wife of Rafe McCawley (Graham Greene). Premiering its second season on Thursday, June 19 at 8PM ET/PT, the ambitious series delivered an average of 1.5 million viewers 18-49 and 3.2 million total viewers in its first season, based on Live +7 data.
Hamilton will play the key recurring role of Pilar McCawley, the wife of Rafe McCawley (Graham Greene) and mother to their three children. Separated from her family for a number of years, Pilar has now returned home. Pilar suffered from serious mental illness and in the aftermath of the Votan arrival and subsequent war, did not have access to her medication. With her mental state unchecked, Pilar snapped and tried to murder her children. Fearing for the family’s safety, Rafe sent her to an institution and told their children she had died. Now Pilar is back with both a steely resolve and a warm, maternal love for her family. But the motives for her return are unclear, and soon Rafe and others in town begin to question where she’s actually been these past years.
Trained at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, Hamilton triumphed in her breakout role as the iconic Sarah Conner in James Cameron’s action/sci-fi masterpiece The Terminator, followed by the blockbuster sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day. She is also well-known for her popular role on the television series Beauty and the Beast opposite Ron Perlman. Her additional film credits include Mr. Destiny, Silent Fall and Dante’s Peak.
Hamilton joins the previously announced James Murray, William Atherton and Anna Hopkins as new cast additions to season two of the series. Murray will portray the integral role of Pottinger, the new mayor of Defiance. Atherton portrays high-ranking Earth Republic official Viceroy Mercado and Hopkins is Earth Republic soldier Jessica “Berlin” Rainier.
Grant Bowler will return as Nolan, along with Julie Benz as Amanda Rosewater, Stephanie Leonidas as Irisa Nolan, Tony Curran as Datak Tarr, Jaime Murray as Stahma Tarr, Graham Greene as Rafe McCawley and Jesse Rath as Alak Tarr. The cast also features Dewshane Williams as Tommy, Trenna Keating as Doc Yewll, Justin Rain as Quentin McCawley and Nicole Munoz as Christie McCawley.
As the story of Defiance resumes, the lives of the townspeople are in drastic turmoil. The Earth Republic has assumed control of the town, with far-reaching consequences including a new mayor. Nolan traverses the badlands to find a lost Irisa, Amanda has an unexpected new role in the town as she searches for Kenya and the Tarr family desperately tries to keep control of their criminal empire in the midst of dramatic changes.
Kevin Murphy (Desperate Housewives, Caprica) resumes his role as executive producer and showrunner. Smallville’s Darren Swimmer and Todd Slavkin return as executive producers for season two and Michael Taylor serves as consulting producer. Michael Nankin (co-executive producer) is set to direct the season two opener. Defiance is produced by Universal Cable Productions.
Defiance is an unprecedented partnership between Syfy and Trion Worlds and the first-ever convergence of television and online gaming, featuring an interconnected world and storylines that co-exist on both platforms.
