Fichtner plays a Nobel physicist. Kevin Carroll plays another physicist. Between them they carry the investigation at the heart of Prime Video’s “The Challenger,” the 1980s-set NASA limited series that has just added six recurring cast members, Deadline reported on September 23.
William Fichtner takes the part of Richard Feynman, with Carroll as his fellow physicist, Professor Arthur Walker. Eric Lange plays Gen. Donald Kutyna of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident. Adelaide Clemens is NASA astronaut Rhea Seddon, and Hunter Burke is astronaut Steve Hawley. Louisa Jacobson, recently seen in “The Gilded Age,” plays Tam O’Shaughnessy, the partner of Sally Ride.
Ride is played by Kristen Stewart in what is her first starring role on television. The series follows the build-up to the Challenger disaster, the investigation that came after it, and Ride’s journey as the first American woman in space. On January 28, 1986, the shuttle exploded shortly after launch and all seven crew members died.
Who else is aboard
The new names join an ensemble that already includes Will Arnett as George Abbey, Danny Huston as William Rogers, Sofia Black D’Elia as Judy Resnik, Paul Sparks as Larry Mulloy, Boris McGiver as William “Bill” Lucas and Shea Whigham as Roger Boisjoly.
The show is inspired by Meredith E. Bagby’s 2023 book “The New Guys.” Maggie Cohn, whose credits include “The Staircase” and “American Crime Story,” created it and serves as writer, executive producer and showrunner. James Hawes, who made “One Life” and “Slow Horses,” directs and executive produces. Further executive producers come from Big Swing Productions, Stewart’s Nevermind Pictures and Amblin Television.
