Portia de Rossi cast in NBC’s Munsters reboot ‘Mockingbird Lane’ as Lily Munster

Daniel S Levine 6/13/2012

Portia de Rossi is joining the cast of NBC’s Mockingbird Lane, a reboot of the classic 1960s series The Munsters. The former Arrested Development and Better off Ted star has been cast as Lily Munster, Herman Munster’s wife.

The platinum blonde de Rossi was cast to play the brunette character on Tuesday, reports Deadline. Lily is a vampire who is married to the family patriarch, Herman, who will be played by Jerry O’Connell.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the pilot is already in production and could air as soon as mid-season. Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller is developing the series, which will take a darker, more dramatic tone than the original series.

“The script is such a dramatic departure from the tone and style of the original show. If we continued to call the show The Munsters, people are just going to to think we’re doing The Munsters,” he told EW, explaining the title change. “We’re doing a reinvention and re-imagination of this property.”

O’Connell was cast last week to play Herman. He and de Rossi join Mason Cook, who will play Eddie Munster, and Eddie Izzard, who will play Grandpa. Charity Wakefield has also been cast to play the family’s ‘normal’ cousin.

NBC had originally tried to get True Blood actress Mariana Klaveno for Lily Munster, but she was already committed to ABC Studios and Marc Cherry’s Devious Maids. Although ABC passed on the show, Lifetime has shown interest in the project, so ABC refused to let Klaveno go.

The Mockingbird Lane pilot is set to be directed by Superman Returns director Bryan Singer.