Rob Thomas is expanding the "Veronica Mars" universe for the upcoming movie: There's a new sheriff in town.
Jerry O'Connell has been cast in the new role of Dan Lamb, the new sheriff of Balboa County. Yep, Dan is related to Don Lamb (Michael Muhney), the cop fans loved to hate.
Thomas said that Adam Scott, who played Mr. Rooks on the series, took him to see the movie, "Piranha." That's when he noticed O'Connel's portrayal Derrick Jones.
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"The perfomance in that movie that I couldn't get over was Jerry O'Connell's take on an amoral, coked up and soon-to-be penis-less smut peddler," Thomas said in Wednesday's announcement of the casting.
"I just kept wanting to get back to scenes of Jerry chewing scenery. So… when it came time to cast the amoral older brother of Don Lamb as the new sheriff of Balboa County, I lit up when Jerry's name was raised."
O'Connell isn't the only new role on the upcoming movie that has been announced. Gaby Hoffman ("Field of Dreams," "Sleepless in Seattle," "Uncle Buck") had been cast in the entirely new role of Ruby Jetson.
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The ICM-represented actor's TV credits include reality dating parody series, "Burning Love," "The Defenders" and "My Secret Identity." He has also starred in the films "Stand By Me," "Jerry Maguire," "Sliders" and "Scary Movie."
Earlier this week, Thomas announced that he had recast Leighton Meester's role of Carrie Bishop with indie band Twin Sister singer Andrea Estella.
He also joins returning castmembers Kristen Bell, Enrico Colantoni, Ryan Hansen, Jason Dohring, Max Greenfield, Tina Majorino, Krysten Ritter, Chris Lowell, Percy Daggs III and Francis Capra for the movie, which is currently in production.
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"Veronica Mars" set multiple records for Kickstarter when the campaign launched in March, becoming the fastest project to reach $1 million, doing so in a little more than four hours. It reached its $2 million goal the same day and has had more than $5.7 million pledged in total.
Watch O'Connell's video message from the movie set below: