Lance Reddick, at this point, is best known as Col. Daniels on The Wire.  Or, if you like commercials, as the black guy in the trying-way-too-hard-to-be-cool Cadillac commercials.  In roughly a month’s time, Lance Reddick will be best known for his recurring role on Lost’s fourth season.  The full details of his Lost character are unknown, but whatever Reddick has done with the role, J.J. Abrams and the Lost team liked what they saw.  Abrams has cast Reddick in his new drama pilot Fringe, which is an X-Files style series about a team of agents who investigate paranormal activity.  Reddick will play the special agent who heads up the paranormal division of Homeland Security. 

John Noble (from Lord of the Rings – he was Denethor) has been cast as one of the lead characters, Dr. Walter Bishop, an institutionalized scientist who is broken out of his mental hospital in the pilot.  Bishop, his son, and a female agent will act as Fringe’s Scooby Gang, investigating cases of paranormal activity.  The pilot has a massive $10 million budget, but that’s because J.J. Abrams is at the helm. 

If you haven’t seen The Wire (and you should, like, now), Lance Reddick’s Col. Daniels is one of the highlights.  I haven’t ever seen Reddick in anything else that I can remember, so I can’t speak to his versatility as an actor.  Maybe he’s a one-note kind of performer, but I doubt it.  He’s just so damn good and complex on The Wire.  I’ve got to believe that he’ll bring something new to the table for Fringe.  As for Lost, I can only presume that he’s some sort of mysterious passenger on the freighter, possibly someone who wields some power.  And, if details of his character have been released, it’s not that I haven’t done my homework – I don’t want to know. 

-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
Source: TVGuide
(Image Courtesy of HBO)

Oscar Dahl

Senior Writer, BuddyTV