Griffiths' female lead character Liv Aberdine, who appears in the pilot, will be written out of the show and replaced by another from the source material.
- Jul 11, 2014
AceShowbiz - "Constantine" loses its female lead, a few months before it premieres. "True Blood" alumna Lucy Griffiths, who played Liv Aberdine in the pilot, departs the upcoming NBC series as the show's creators decided to move in a different direction creatively.
Liv is the daughter of one of Constantine's oldest friends whom he saves from demons and later takes under his wing. The role will not be recast, but replaced by Zed, a psychic who teams up with Constantine to battle various evil forces.
To Entertainment Weekly, executive producer Daniel Cerone says that the show is replacing Liv with the more experienced Zed "to give its main demon hunter a more effective partner/foil." He explains, "When you put a wide-eyed innocent into that world, she's just very reactive."
"The nice thing about Swamp Thing, when he first teamed up with Constantine, was that Swamp Thing had abilities, Swamp Thing had skills. Constantine needed those skills," Cerone continues gushing. "One of the coolest things about Constantine he doesn't have any 'powers.' He came out of a time with all these superheroes with their garish colors and flashy powers, and he just comes out with a rumpled coat, wearing browns and greys, and he just knows a lot magic and spells, but it's all knowledge-based. Anything he can do is based in knowledge and his own studying."
"Zed is actually one of the first women Constantine meets in the comic books, and she has various psychic powers. We felt ultimately she's going to service the first season better as someone to pair Constantine up with. She can get in his face a little bit and have some of her own realizations and skills and really push him. But if whoever Constantine is working with is constantly on her heels, that just wouldn't service the show really well."
Zed isn't cast yet, but she will make her first appearance in an early episode. Additional characters from "Hellblazer" and DC Comics universe will be introduced over the course of the series. The supernatural drama will debut Friday, October 24 at 10 P.M. on NBC.
