![\"FX's](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_6308.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nMale actors auditioned with a scene from the first episode: a tense confrontation at the mall between Bret and Robert. \u201cI remember specifically when Homer walked into the room,\u201d Murphy says. \u201cI had him read for Matt, Thom, Bret. As soon as he read Robert, I thought, That\u2019s the guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Simpson found Gere\u2019s audition just as memorable. \u201cWhen Homer came in, he had this intensity and intelligence but also a mystery about him that you really wanted in Robert Mallory,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd Igby\u2014who read for us several times\u2014had this sort of sardonic voice and this air of distance. He was both present but also seemed to be floating above the other actors.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Photo: FX<\/p>\n
Gerber, on the other hand, was almost predestined for the role of Susan Reynolds, the popular yet aloof student body president and Bret\u2019s longtime best friend. When Murphy asked Ellis himself if he had any thoughts on the casting, he said, \u201cNo, but I think Kaia Gerber would be the best Susan.\u201d Murphy replied, \u201cThat\u2019s funny, I had the same idea.\u201d When the producer called Gerber up, \u201cit turns out that she had been tracking that book and that part specifically,\u201d Murphy notes.<\/p>\n
Gerber isn\u2019t the only familiar name in the cast. Wes Bentley\u2014a regular Murphy collaborator\u2014plays Terry Schaffer, the sleazy movie-producer father of Bret\u2019s girlfriend, Debbie. Evan Rachel Wood<\/a>, meanwhile, is Debbie\u2019s alcoholic mother, Liz, and Broadway producer Jordan Roth<\/a> takes on the role of Terry\u2019s assistant, Steven Reinhardt.<\/p>\n Wes Bentley (as Terry Schaffer) and Rigney<\/p>\n Photo: FX<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Male actors auditioned with a scene from the first episode: a tense confrontation at the mall between Bret…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":584297,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[268],"tags":[434,18,117,19,17,56807,19935,806],"class_list":["post-584296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-textbelowleftfullbleed","tag-tv-movies","tag-web"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116915602569456498","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=584296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/584297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Image](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SHA_102_UHD_SDR.0134142.jpg\"\/)
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