The West Wing and Get Out star Bradley Whitford has been cast as monster hunter Gabriel Van Helsing in a new podcast. He will play the role in Mina & Lucy’s Guide to Slaying Dracula, an upcoming, 20-episode series from Gen-Z Media and writer Lauren Wells (FX’s What We Do in the Shadows). Beginning today, the series will run on most podcast platforms. It also stars Ritchie Coster (The Dark Knight) as Dracula, Broadway star Suri Marrero (The Lion King, Frozen) as Mina Murray and newcomer Genna Du Quesnay as Lucy West, as well as Marissa Jaret Winokur (Hairspray), Julian Chowdhury (That 90’s Show), Anthony Atamanuik (30 Rock), and Che Tafari (The Good Fight).
According to Deadline, who first reported the story, Mina & Lucy’s Guide to Slaying Dracula “follows best friends and monster enthusiasts who discover something shocking about their new classmate, and when strange occurrences begin rattling their small town, the friends find themselves confronting the most powerful vampire of legend, Dracula himself.”
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“Bradley’s portrayal of Van Helsing is heartfelt and hilarious,” said Ben Strouse, Gen-Z Media’s CEO. “Lauren created such a fun version of the iconic character, and it’s thrilling to see Bradley bring him life.”
The series targets older teens and tweens, with an eye toward creating a family listening experience — something they can tell their older siblings and parents to check out, and that will appeal to more or less everyone who has “aged out” of kids’ podcasts.
This is, of course, the third major Dracula story to be released in mass media in 2023. Before this, The Last Voyage of the Demeter aimed to be a fairly straightforward horror experience, while Robert Kirkman’s Renfield starred Cage as Dracula in a dark comedy about the vampire’s right-hand man.
Whitford, a three-time Emmy winner, has appeared in numerous memorable TV shows and movies, including The Handmaid’s tale (alongside fellow The West Wing star Elisabeth Moss), Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and Billy Madison. After The West Wing, he went on to work with Aaron Sorkin again on the short-lived Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. He also engages in charity and activism, remaining vocal on social media about various causes.
