Shirley Manson is not a name synonymous with episodic television.  The Garbage lead singer has long been a fan favorite among a certain subset of music fans, mostly of the Grunge variety, and they may not be overly enthused by her new gig: Manson has signed on to join the cast of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.  FOX's Terminator is ramping up for production on season two, and Manson will play Catherine Weaver, the CEO of a state-of-the-art high-tech company.  Whatever that is.  The company will surely have somethiing to do with the development of SkyNet.  Manson has not really dabbled in acting at all over the past two decades – Terminator will easily be her most high-profile TV work. 

Shirley Manson, Scottish-born, will probably keep her accent in the role, seeing as she's not a trained actress.  She's definitely a quality performer, seeing as Garbage became a popular band despite, you know, not being very good.  Looking at Manson's bio, one thing really caught me off guard: Shirley Manson is over 40 years old.  Doesn't seem like it, does it? 

Grunge singers haven't, as a collective group, dabbled all that much in acting.  Eddie Vedder has made a film cameo here or there, and Courtney Love made a couple of critically acclaimed appearances in Milos Forman films (“Man on the Moo” and “The People vs. Larry Flynt”).  Manson's casting is somewhat bizarre, out of nowhere.  Will she keep her patented red hair?  Will she learn an American accent?  Will she be any good?  If anything, the casting only makes me more intrigued for Terminator's second season.  The first season was a pleasant surprise.  Far from perfect, but also far from the disaster fans both feared and predicted.  The stories say that Manson will be a regular on the series, but I'm guessing that, more likely, it'll be a recurring role.


-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
Source: Hollywood Reporter
(Image Courtesy of AP)