Seven years after finishing her arc on Showtime’s The L Word, actress Jennifer Beals is moving down the alphabet to The T Word—which, in this case, stands for NBC’s planned prequel TV series of the bloody revenge franchise Taken. (It could also stand for “Terrorists, who are definitely going to get shot in the head,” or “we Totally cast the guy from Vikings as our ersatz Liam Neeson.”) Beals will play Special Deputy Director of National Intelligence Christina Hart, the woman who recruits series protagonist Bryan Mills (Clive Standen) as her protege in gravel-voiced phone threats, instilling in him all those special skills that never seem to keep his loved ones from getting took in the films.
Beals’ last regular TV role was on TNT’s Proof, where she searched for conclusive proof of the afterlife; her role in the new Taken series could be seen as a continuation of that work, in that she and Mills will presumably be sending a lot of people to hell over the course of the show. The series is being produced for NBC by Homeland’s Alex Cary; franchise co-creator Luc Besson is also expected to executive produce.