Sean Astin and More to Guest Star in New Season of Syfy's ALPHAS, Premiering 7/23

The second season of Syfy's hit series Alphas, produced by Universal Cable Productions and BermanBruan Television, returns tonight, July 23 at 10PM ET/PT with a deep roster of guest stars.

New this season are Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Rudy), C. Thomas Howell (Southland), Lauren Holly (NCIS), Steve Byers (Immortals, Total Recall), Kandyse McClure (Battlestar Galactica) and Noah Reid (Rookie Blue). Returning guest stars include John Pyper-Ferguson (Caprica, Brothers and Sisters) as Stanton Parish, Kathleen Munroe (Haven, Stargate Universe) as Dani Rosen and Mahershala Ali (Treme, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) as Agent Nathan Cley. Summer Glau (Dollhouse, Firefly) who was a fan favorite last season playing an Alpha, Skylar Adams, will return for three episodes.

Alphas stars David Strathairn as Dr. Lee Rosen, Malik Yoba as Bill Harken, Warren Christie as Cameron Hicks, Azita Ghanizada as Rachel Pirzad, Ryan Cartwright as Gary Bell and Laura Mennell as Nina Theroux. Erin Way (Detroit 187, Private Practice) joins the cast this season as Kat, a mysterious young loner whose Alpha ability equips her with perfect muscle memory, making her a "quick study." But while her skills are permanent, her personal memories are short-lived.

Alphas follows a clandestine group of ordinary people with superhuman mental and physical abilities. Led by preeminent neurologist and psychiatrist Dr. Lee Rosen (Emmy Award-winner and Academy Award-nominee David Strathairn), the unlikely team takes on cases the CIA, FBI and Pentagon are unwilling or unable to solve going head-to-head with many of the criminal Alphas hiding among the normal population.

The new season picks up eight months after last year's stunning season finale with the stage set for an explosive turn of events at the Binghamton facility (the Guantanamo of the Alpha world) that could have devastating, far-reaching consequences. Dr. Lee Rosen, having exposed the existence of Alphas to the unsuspecting public, finds himself discredited and imprisoned by a government desperate to cover up his stunning revelation. Some of the team have disbanded and without Dr. Rosen's care and guidance, have regressed to their old, destructive ways. They must now battle their individual demons, reunite and try to save their own.

New and Returning Guest Stars Include:

Sean Astin plays Roland, an Alpha who has a bizarrely absorptive brain, which allows him to assume the memories of anyone close to him and then replay them like a tape recorder.

C. Thomas Howell portrays Eli Aquino, an intense Alpha with super-speed who is bent on revenge.

Lauren Holly guests as Senator Charlotte Burton, a government official with mysterious ties to a member of the Alphas team.

Summer Glau reprises her season one role as Skylar Adams, an Alpha who possesses a 200+ IQ and is an electronics mastermind.

Steve Byers plays John Bennett, a new member of the tactical team from the U.S. Department of Defense assigned to the Alphas team.

Kandyse McClure guests as Agnes, an attractive but distant Alpha with the ability to see into people's minds merely by touching them.

John Pyper-Ferguson reprises his recurring role of Stanton Parish, the "Perfect Alpha."

Kathleen Munroe returns as Dr. Rosen's daughter, Dani, an empath Alpha who can transfer emotions from herself to others and is secretly a follower of Stanton Parish.

Mahershala Ali reprises his role as Nathan Clay the head of a tactical unit within the U.S. Department of Defense tasked with dealing with rogue Alphas.

Noah Reid portrays Adam Gordon a young man grief-stricken by the death of his young sister, Maggie. However, he becomes convinced she is alive and in need of his help.

Bruce Miller (ER, Eureka) joins Alphas this season as Executive Producer and Showrunner. Executive Producers are Gail Berman, Lloyd Braun and Gene Stein for BermanBraun. The series was created by Zak Penn (Avengers) and Co-Executive Producer Michael Karnow.

When the series debuted last summer, it became Syfy's most-watched original scripted series premiere in two years. Overall the show averaged 3.3 million total viewers during its first season.

Universal Cable Productions creates innovative and critically acclaimed original scripted and digital content across multiple media platforms and outlets for domestic and international distribution. UCP produces Covert Affairs, Fairly Legal, In Plain Sight, Psych, Royal Pains and Suits for USA; Alphas, Defiance, Eureka and Warehouse 13 for Syfy. Universal Cable Productions is a division of NBCUniversal.

Syfy is a media destination for imagination-based entertainment. With year round acclaimed original series, events, blockbuster movies, classic science fiction and fantasy programming, a dynamic Web site (www.Syfy.com), and a portfolio of adjacent business (Syfy Ventures), Syfy is a passport to limitless possibilities. Originally launched in 1992 as SCI FI Channel, and currently in more than 98 million homes, Syfy is a network of NBCUniversal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies. (Syfy. Imagine greater.)

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