Kristen Stewart’s Space TV Show The Challenger Adds William Fichtner, Five Others to Cast

Kristen Stewart’s space TV show The Challenger has added William Fichtner and five others to its cast. The six actors will appear in recurring roles in Prime Video’s 80s-set NASA drama. The casting update comes ahead of the limited series’ premiere.

According to a Deadline report, the other five cast members include Kevin Carroll, Eric Lange, Adelaide Clemens, Louisa Jacobson, and Hunter Burke.

The new cast members take on key roles in the NASA drama

Fichtner plays Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, while Carroll portrays fellow physicist Professor Arthur Walker. Lange takes on the role of Gen. Donald Kutyna, who served on the Presidential Commission investigating the Challenger accident.

Clemens will play NASA astronaut Rhea Seddon, while Jacobson portrays Tam O’Shaughnessy. Tam was the partner of Sally Ride, the astronaut and physicist by Kristen Stewart. Burke joins as astronaut Steve Hawley, adding another real-life space figure to the series.

Inspired by Meredith E. Bagby’s 2023 book The New Guys, The Challenger follows the events surrounding the 1986 space shuttle disaster. The story also covers the subsequent investigation and Sally Ride’s historic journey into space. Ride became the first American woman to travel into space in 1983.

The disaster happened on January 28, 1986, when NASA’s space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after launch. All seven crew members aboard the shuttle died in the accident. The subsequent investigation examined the technical and organizational factors behind the tragedy.

The series marks Kristen Stewart’s television starring debut and comes from creator Maggie Cohn. James Hawes directs, while Cohn serves as writer, executive producer, and showrunner. Previously announced cast members include Will Arnett, Danny Huston, Sofia Black-D’Elia, Paul Sparks, Boris McGiver, and Shea Whigham.

Amazon Prime Video has not announced a release date for The Challenger yet. Big Swing Productions, Nevermind Pictures, and Amblin Television produce the series.

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