Laura Benanti Joins Fox Pilot BIG LEAP

Variety has reported that Laura Benanti has joined the cast of the FOX drama pilot "Big Leap".

Read the full story HERE.

Inspired by the UK docuseries "Big Ballet.", the show centers on a group of diverse underdogs who compete to be part of a competition reality series that is putting on a modern remake of "Swan Lake."

Benanti will play Paula Dirks, a tap dancer and white-collar former V.P. at a major car company who decides that The Big Leap is a chance to let go of her fears and explore her artistic side.

The cast of Big Leap includes Ser'Darius Blain, Ray Cham, Scott Foley, Jon Rudnitsky, Simone Recasner, and Teri Polo. Big Leap is set to shoot later this year.

Check out the full story HERE.

Benanti is a five-time Tony Award nominee, having won one Tony for her role in "Gypsy" opposite Patti LuPone in 2008. That role also earned her a Drama Desk Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award. Benanti's other Broadway credits include "Into the Woods," "The Wedding Singer," and "Nine." Her recent TV credits include "Younger," "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," "Supergirl," "Nashville," and "The Detour."

She is repped by UTA and Untitled Entertainment.

Heldens will write and executive produce the pilot, with Sue Naegle also executive producing. Jason Winer will direct and executive produce. 20th Century FOX Television and FOX Entertainment will produce. Heldens is currently under an overall deal at 20th TV.

Benanti has made headlines as a guest on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" with her spot-on, hilarious impersonation of Melania Trump. In 2017, Laura joined the cast as a regular on the hit "Samantha Bee" and Jason Jones' TBS comedy, "The Detour." In 2016, Laura starred as Amalia Balash in the hit Broadway Musical, She Loves Me, for which she received her fifth Tony nomination. Laura also received Outer Critics Circle, Drama League and Drama Desk Award nominations for this role. In addition to television work and her critically acclaimed performance as Elsa Schrader in NBC's "The Sound of Music LIVE," Ms. Benanti is a highly celebrated stage actress who took Broadway by storm at the age of 18. She received a Drama Desk award, Outer Critics Circle Award and a Tony Award Nomination for her starring role in the Broadway production of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown for Lincoln Center where she also starred in the Broadway production of Sarah Ruhl's In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play. Ms. Benanti earned the 2008 Tony Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, a Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award for her revelatory portrayal of Gypsy Rose Lee in Gypsy opposite Patti LuPone and directed by Arthur Laurents.

Her other Broadway roles include The Wedding Singer, Nine, starring Antonio Banderas, her Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award-nominated performance of Cinderella in Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods and her sultry Tony nominated turn in Swing! Ms. Benanti made her Broadway debut as Maria in The Sound of Music opposite Richard Chamberlain. Other distinguished theater performances include The Public Theater's production of Christopher Durang's Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them, Perdita in The Winter's Tale at the Williamstown Theatre Festival opposite Kate Burton, Anne in A Little Night Music at the L.A. Opera opposite Victor Garber, Eileen in Wonderful Town opposite Donna Murphy and most recently her portrayal of Rosabella in the Most Happy Fella, both for City Center Encores! Laura's past television credits include a starring role in the NBC series "The Playboy Club" and "Go On" opposite Matthew Perry. She also starred in the F/X original series "Starved". Ms. Benanti had a recurring role on "Law and Order: SVU," "Royal Pains," and "Eli Stone." and had appearances on "The Big C" and "Elementary".