In a surprising turn of events, Rosemarie DeWitt will be leaving The Newsroom season 2, and her character will be recast. Why has this sudden change occurred, and what did HBO have to say?
Rosemarie DeWitt is leaving Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom after filming only a few of her scheduled episodes due to filming conflicts. It seems that what she has filmed will not be enough to cover what was planned for her character – so HBO is taking the dramatic step of recasting in the middle of season 2 filming. The replacement actress is yet to be announced.
Entertainment Weekly is reporting that DeWitt’s role changed in the production timeline. As she was initially only contracted as a recurring character, her schedule was not clear and she had other filming conflicts.
HBO has released a statement:
As the production schedule for season two of The Newsroom has shifted, Rosemarie DeWitt has encountered scheduling conflicts and will no longer be able to continue in her role.
Late last year DeWitt spoke to Very Aware about her role, when she said “I feel like this character is the filter of how we are seeing the season. Like we see it a lot through her eyes.” Sounds like she will be a much more substantial role than we initially believed.
DeWitt was set to play Rebecca Halliday, a litigator hired by the fictional cable network Atlantis Cable Network to defend them in a multimillion-dollar wrongful termination lawsuit. When DeWitt spoke to Hypable about her new film Promised Land, she told us about her Newsroom role:
“I’m crushing him [Daniels]. The company is coming under siege, so I’m there to try to dig them out of the ditch.”
We were looking forward to seeing DeWitt rip castmate Jeff Daniels apart, but sadly we won’t get the chance.