CONSTANTINE: The Producers Talk About Lucy Griffiths’ Exit, Casting Angélica Celaya as Zed

CONSTANTINE underwent a bit of a shakeup this past week when it was revealed that Lucy Griffiths (Liv) was exiting the NBC series and the search was on for a new female lead.

During the show’s Television Critics Association press tour panel, CONSTANTINE executive producer Daniel Cerone admitted the character simply didn’t work when they sat down to plan their season-long arc for the show.

“Pilots are great because they’re a bit of a litmus test and you get to see what works and what doesn’t,” Cerone told reporters during the panel. “Liv is a great character, she’s very wide-eye, she’s very reactive…we felt a bit hamstrung by her [limits], frankly.”

Among the problems with the character (which the show created versus adapting from the comics)? The writers found that they really needed someone who was Constantine’s equal, versus a student/teacher relationship that the Constantine/Liv was shaping up to be. (And they will reshoot one of the final scene of the pilot to accommodate the changes to the relationship, and as executive producer David S. Goyer noted, “[Constantine’s] friends drop like flies.”)

To find that balance they were seeking, the show has recruited Angélica Celaya to play Zed, a character that originated in the “Hellblazer” comic book series.

“She’s a psychic,” Cerone teased. “She has powers when she meets him. She can go toe-to-toe [with him]…He’s a con man, he’s a spiritual grifter..and she can detect bullshit.”

And since this is a character fans might be already attached to, Cerone admits he hopes the fans are pleased with this development, too: “It’s going to energize the show, [and] we hope it energizes the fanbase.”

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Are you excited to see what Zed brings to CONSTANTINE?

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