Netflix has cast Rachelle Lefevre and Charlotte Sullivan as series regulars in Season 2 of its “Little House on the Prairie” new adaptation, Deadline first reported Tuesday morning, with the news landing five weeks before the show’s Season 1 premiere on July 9.
Lefevre, known for the “Twilight” franchise and CBS’s “Under the Dome,” will play Eva Beadle, the town schoolteacher who quickly wins over sisters Mary, played by Skywalker Hughes, and Laura Ingalls, played by Alice Halsey. Sullivan, a veteran of “Rookie Blue,” “Chicago Fire,” and “Law & Order: Organized Crime,” takes on Margaret Oleson, mother to Nellie. Her casting fills out the Oleson clan after Netflix confirmed last week that Willa Dunn would play Nellie, Laura’s scheming classmate and longtime rival.
The two roles carry serious history. Charlotte Stewart played Eva Beadle Simms across the first four seasons of the original NBC series, which ran from 1974 to 1983. The Olesons’ matriarch went by Harriet in that version, played by Katherine MacGregor, who recurred for eight seasons before joining the main cast in the ninth and final year. Netflix has reframed the character as Margaret here, described as charming and unfiltered, with a quick wit and a streak of gallows humor, fiercely devoted to her daughter and afraid of losing her affection.
Dunn’s casting as Nellie got its own ceremonial sendoff. Alison Arngrim, who originated the role on NBC and recurred through the show’s first seven seasons, marked the handoff on Instagram. “Today, another has been chosen,” Arngrim wrote. “All hail she, whom they call ‘Willa’!! Like the one before her, she has risen from deep in the city of Gotham, to stand and take the ringlet crown.” The new adaptation is giving Nellie more shading than the original mean-girl read. Netflix describes her as a spoiled princess on the surface, sharp-tongued but easily wounded, hiding a real desire for friendship underneath.
Rebecca Sonnenshine, whose credits include “The Boys” and “The Vampire Diaries,” runs the show and executive produces alongside Joy Gorman Wettels for Joy Coalition, Trip Friendly for Friendly Family Productions, and Dana Fox. CBS Studios and Anonymous Content produce. The series is built as a fresh adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s semi-autobiographical books rather than a straight remake, billed as part family drama, part survival tale, and part origin story of the American West.
The Season 1 cast anchors around Halsey as Laura, Luke Bracey as Charles Ingalls, Crosby Fitzgerald as Caroline Ingalls, and Hughes as Mary, with Jocko Sims as Dr. George Tann, Warren Christie as John Edwards, Wren Zhawenim Gotts as Good Eagle, Meegwun Fairbrother as Mitchell, and Alyssa Wapanatahk as White Sun. Netflix renewed the series for Season 2 back in March, before a single episode had aired, a sign of how the streamer is positioning the title within its slate of comfort-driven family dramas alongside “Virgin River” and “Sweet Magnolias.”
Season 1 hits Netflix on July 9. A premiere window for Season 2 has not been announced.
