The premiere of The Conners is closing in, and ABC has announced that it has recast a pivotal character most recently seen in the spinoff series. A new actress has joined the cast of The Conners to play DJ's wife and Mary's mother, Geena Williams-Conner. Previously portrayed by Xosha Roquemore in the Roseanne revival, Geena will now be played by Maya Lynne Robinson, pictured above. And ABC has revealed some more info about the character.
Maya Lynne Robinson has joined the cast of The Conners as a series regular, which means fans should get to see a lot more of DJ's wife throughout the upcoming spinoff series. Jayden Rey, who plays Geena and DJ's daughter Mary, was promoted to series regular for The Conners. Both positive signs that DJ's family will be around a lot more in the spinoff. And ABC is promising that viewers new and old will enjoy something in particular about 2nd Lieutenant Geena Williams-Conner interaction with the family.
That is how Geena's "military-style" approach to discipline engages with the rest of The Conners' "more laid-back attitude" towards it. All of which sounds like it will be interesting for fans to watch play out. Geena joins returning Roseanne characters, Dan, Jackie, Darlene, and Becky. The kids will also be back. Darlene's children, Harris and Mark, and as mentioned DJ and Geena's daughter Mary.
In a set of photos posted on The Conners' Twitter account, the show shared some behind-the-scenes pictures of Michael Fishman and Maya Lynne Robinson embracing, along with a heartwarming picture of them with their young co-star Jayden Rey, who plays their daughter. The caption also shares a bit of a throwback to how DJ and Geena's relationship started out on the original series in 1994 and how far it has come. See it for yourself below:
With Geena back from her tour of duty, The Conners will have lots of story to explore, including a potentially deeper dive into DJ and Geena's marriage, as well as them acclimating to both parenting, Mary, with Geena now back at home. Both are military veterans, so there is story to explore there as well. As for the new actress playing Geena, Maya Lynne Robinson is the creator of the web series HTMAST and the co-creator and co-lead of the web series, GURL.
Bringing Geena back as a central force on The Conners is a smart move that will undoubtedly lead to lots of great episodes. And fans will not have too much longer to see Geena and The Conners in the spinoff series. The Conners premieres Tuesday, October 16 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. In the meantime, lots of new fall shows are arriving before the Roseanne spinoff premieres and afterward on the Alphabet Network.
