‘The Rainmaker’ Series Adds Madison Iseman As Series Regular

EXCLUSIVE: Madison Iseman (I Know What You Did Last Summer) has joined the cast of the USA Network’s drama series The Rainmaker, based on the bestselling John Grisham novel of the same name.

From writer and executive producer Michael Seitzman, the Lionsgate and Blumhouse series follows Rudy Baylor who, fresh out of law school, goes head-to-head with courtroom lion Leo Drummond and his law school girlfriend. Rudy, along with his boss and her disheveled paralegal, uncover two connected conspiracies surrounding the mysterious death of their client’s son.

In a series regular role, Iseman will play Sarah Plankmore, a recent law school graduate and Rudy’s girlfriend. The role of Rudy has yet to be cast.

The Rainmaker received a series order by the NBCUniversal cable network in June, capping a six-year journey by Seitzman to bring the book to TV. Seitzman and Jason Richman wrote the pilot script, with Seitzman serving as writer on the series. The two are executive producing with Grisham, Jason Blum and David Gernert.

A film adapted the novel in 1997 of the same name directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Matt Damon, Claire Danes, Jon Voight and Danny DeVito.

The Rainmaker series is believed to be part of the “Blue Sky” brand USA Network has been looking to revive with new shows. That programming initiative, revealed exclusively by Deadline last fall, involves developing hourlong series at budgets in the $2M-$3M an episode, recognizing the economic realities of basic cable, which has been heavily impacted by cord-cutting and the overall decline in linear viewing. I hear the budget for The Rainmaker is toward the higher end of that range. USA’s “Blue Sky” era included such legal shows as Suits and Fairly Legal.

Iseman co-starred in Prime Video’s I Know What You Did Last Summer and FX’s American Horror Stories. On the film side, she’ll next be seen in the Chuck Russell-directed Witchboard. Previous credits include the “Jumanji” franchise, Fear of Rain, Knights of the Zodiac, Clouds, Nocturne and Annabelle Comes Home.

She is repped by IAG, Principal Entertainment LA and Yorn Levine.