The Party Down Revival Sends Invites To Jennifer Garner, James Marsden, And More
After a few false starts over the years, Starz is finally back in the catering business thanks to a revival of "Party Down." The short-lived but beloved series created by Rob Thomas, John Enbom, Dan Etheridge, and Paul Rudd received a six-episode order back in November 2021. And in addition to all the original series creators returning, nearly the entire cast including Adam Scott, Ken Marino, Jane Lynch, Martin Starr, Ryan Hansen, and Megan Mullally are set to reprise their roles. Lizzy Caplan, who played aspiring actress and comedienne Casey Klein, is the only hold out due to scheduling conflicts with her FX show "Fleishman Is In Trouble." And though Caplan's absence is sure to be felt when the new season premieres, the team has added a number of great performers in regular and recurring roles.
Party Guests
Variety revealed that Jennifer Garner, Zoë Chao, and Tyrel Jackson Williams will join the returning cast as series regulars in the third season of "Party Down." Williams of "Brockmire" and "Thunder Force" fame will play Sackson, "a handsome, confident, driven, wannabe influencer/internet personality. He's knowledgeable and savvy about his specific internet niche, but a bit lost in every other aspect of life."
Chao recently starred in "The Afterparty" on Apple TV+, HBO's "Love Life," and the charming feature film "Long Weekend" alongside Finn Wittrock. She steps into the role of Lucy, "a passionate, outspoken, free-thinking creative "food artist." Lucy dreams of being a celebrity chef, but she's stuck cranking out hors d'oeuvres at Party Down without the resources to do anything more ambitious."
A bit of bad news for Henry and Casey shippers. award-wining actress Garner, who has inhabited a number of iconic roles from film and television, will be a new love interest for Adam Scott's aspiring actor/former beer spokesman. Her character Evie is a movie producer "in the wake of a breakup" and "reconsidering her life choices."
Finally, James Marsden joins the cast in a recurring guest-starring role. He takes on the challenging role of Jack Botty, an actor known for his work as the lead in a popular superhero franchise that "enjoys his life, his fame and being the center of everyone's attention." While this may be a stretch for Marsden, who is probably best known for playing Cyclops/Scott Summers in the live-action X-Men movies, I'm confident that he'll do a great job. He'll probably channel some of his patented himbo energy from Prince Edward of Disney's "Enchanted," Criss from "30 Rock," or Tom from "Sonic the Hedgehog," so it's almost certainly going to be a good time when he pops up in an episode or two.
Now that we have some new additions to the Party Down Catering team, that must be a sign that shooting could start any day now. And once filming gets underway, maybe we'll get an idea of when we can actually watch this long-awaited revival. But until then, you can always rewatch the first two seasons of "Party Down" on Hulu or Starz.