Due to his experience playing a monster on True Blood and a jerk in Pacific Rim, Rob Kazinsky has been cast as a monster who is also a jerk in Fox’s upcoming Frankenstein pilot. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Frankenstein is a modern retelling of Mary Shelley’s tale which takes a few liberties with the story: In the original, an arrogant scientist is chased to the ends of the earth by the sad, lonely beast he created out of body parts. In this adaptation, a retired sheriff is murdered and brought back to life in the body of a hot, younger man (Kazinsky). So basically the same thing.
The throughline for the series is that while the sheriff may have been reanimated into a bootylicious vessel built for fighting crime, he’s still the same crotchety old man on the inside. Meanhwile, Adhir Kalyan (Rules Of Engagement) is set to play one of the monster’s creators, who will presumably be confounded by his creation’s need to do “grumpy old man stuff,” like appreciate vintage pin-ups, make racially insensitive jokes, and smoke unfiltered Camels.
While the project is only at the pilot stage, it’s refreshing to hear of a Frankenstein adaptation finally getting it right by combining the resurrected-constable storyline of RoboCop with the insufferable old man of Gran Torino.