Two Actors Added As Wardens In J.J. Abrams' Alcatraz

You don't have to be a Lost fan to be excited about the forthcoming series Alcatraz, though the fact that it's yet another J.J. Abrams-produced series focused on an island kind of does help. The series, which will be shooting a pilot in the coming months, is already set to star Lost alum Jorge Garcia, and though I'm still rooting for them to cast Michael Emerson for a true reunion, they've added two more members to the cast who never spent any time on The Island.

According to Deadline, Jonny Coyne and Jason Butler Harner have signed on for major roles, both as wardens of the famous island prison. Coyne, who was on the Abrams-produced short-lived series Undercovers that debuted this fall, will play the lead role of Warden Edwin James, while Harner-- a stage actor who has appeared in Changeling and The Extra Man, among others-- will play Associate Warden E.B. Tiller. They've also added Sarah Jones, of Sons of Anarchy and Big Love, to play the female lead, though they're not giving us the specifics of her role.

There's a bit of time travel involved in the story-- the main characters are FBI investigators figuring out the mysterious appearance of missing Alcatraz prisoners in the present-day-- and it's not clear if the actors playing wardens will be in a period setting, ora mooing the time travelers, or god knows what. With Abrams' name attached the pilot is likely to be picked up for a series and garner a lot of media attention in the process, so expect to be hearing plenty of more about this later on.