EXCLUSIVE: Prime Video is expanding the cast of The Challenger, its upcoming limited series starring Kristen Stewart and Will Arnett, that chronicles the events leading up to NASA’s 1986 Challenger disaster. Joining the series in recurring roles are Daisuke Tsuji (Invasion), Dennis Flanagan (Chicago PD), David Shae (Richard Jewell), Devyn Tyler (The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd), Ellen Tamaki (Manifest), Allie McCulloch (The Glorias), Lio Tipton (Love Hurts), Chelle Ramos (Outer Banks), Michael Milligan (The Hunting Wives), Ned Vaughn (Apollo 13) and Jamie Lee Dunn (Your Honor).
Tsuji plays Ellison Onizuka; Flanagan is Jim Bagian; Shae plays Dick Scobee; Tyler is Cheryl McNair; Tamaki plays Lorna Onizuka; McCulloch plays June Scobee; Tipton is Molly; Ramos plays Sylvia Salinas; Milligan portrays Steven McAuliffe, Vaughn plays Neil Armstrong and Dunn is Christa McAuliffe.
Starring Stewart as Sally Ride and Arnett as George Abbey, previously announced cast also includes Danny Huston as William Rogers, Sofia Black D’Elia as Judy Resnik, Paul Sparks as Larry Mulloy, Boris McGiver as William ‘Bill’ Lucas, Shea Whigham as Roger Boisjoly, William Fichtner as, Kevin Carroll as, Eric Langea as, Adelaide Clemens as, Louisa Jacobson as, and Hunter Burke as Steve Hawley.
Inspired by Meredith E. Bagby’s 2023 book The New Guys, The Challenger chronicles the events leading up to the Challenger disaster, the investigation that followed, and Ride’s groundbreaking journey as the first American woman in space.
The Challenger space shuttle disaster occurred on January 28, 1986, when the spacecraft broke apart 73 seconds after lift-off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, killing all seven crew members aboard.
The Challenger series hails from Big Swing Productions, Amblin Television, and Nevermind Pictures, and will premiere exclusively on Prime Video.
The series was created by Maggie Cohn (The Staircase, American Crime Story, Narcos: Mexico), who serves as writer, executive producer, and showrunner. James Hawes (One Life, Slow Horses, Black Mirror) directs and executive produces. Executive producers also include Kyra Sedgwick, Valerie Stadler, and Meredith E. Bagby for Big Swing Productions; Maggie Cohn, James Hawes; Kristen Stewart, Dylan Meyer, and Maggie McLean for Nevermind Pictures; and Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey for Amblin Television.
Tsuji is repped by Trademark Talent; Flanagan by CESD and TMT Entertainment Group; Shae by AMT; Tyler by Arise Artists Agency; Tamaki by CESD and MGMT Entertainment; McCullock by STW Talent Agency and Bullett Management; Tipton by Mosaic, Paradigm, Scott Whitehead at McKuin Frankel Whitehead; Ramos by Alexander White Agency and 42; Milligan by Alexander White Agency and Zero Gravity Management; Vaughn by Traci Danielle /Brevard Talent Group, Inc., Randy James Management; Dunn by Angie Moncrief, Agent/Owner of Action Talent Agency.