Joel Gretsch, star of the USA Network's
The 4400, has signed on to appear on the new period drama,
Saving Grace. The film, set in a Missouri Town during the 1950s, will mark veteran performer Connie's Stevens feature writing and directorial debut.
The cast also includes
Penelope Ann Miller (
Vanished),
Tatum O'Neal (
Rescue Me), Piper Laurie (
Will & Grace, Frasier) and Michael Biehn (
Hawaii, Adventure Inc.). Miller and Biehn will portray Bea and Landry Bretthorse, a couple whose life is turned upside down when Landy's sister, Grace (O'Neal) is released from the local asylum and moves in with the family. Laurie will play the administrator of the asylum wherein Grace was confined for 15 years.
Joel Gretsch, who plays NTAC agent Tom Baldwin on
The 4400, will play Grace's ex-husband, who was married to her for only one day.
Saving Grace is not the only film Gretsch is currently involved in, as he is also slated to appear in the sequel,
The National Treasure: Book of Secrets, wherein he plays Thomas Gates. The film is now in its post-production stages.
Apart from
The 4400, which recently concluded its fourth season, Joel Gretsch's other notable television credits include
Taken, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, NCIS, and
Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
The story of
Saving Grace has a personal meaning for singer-actress Stevens. In 1951, she was visiting relatives in Boonville, Missouri when severe floods, which play an important role in her screenplay, hit the area. The film is presently being shot on location there.
Stevens is most known for her 1960s pop songs and her role on the television series,
Hawaiian Eye. She also guest-starred in a number of shows that aired through the 1990s, and gained some success with her very own cosmetic line, Forever Spring. She wrote and produced the 1997 wartime nurse documentary,
A Healing: Women of Vietnam.
-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Hollywood Reporter
(Image Courtesy of USA Network)