Hulu has found the title star for its drama pilot Foster Dade.
Jack Alldridge (Death by Lightning) has been cast in the lead role in the project, written by Greg Berlanti and Bash Doran and based on the novel Foster Dade Explores the Cosmos by Nash Jenkins. Production on the pilot is set to begin Tuesday in New York; Alldridge joins a cast that also includes Chloe East, Matt Bomer and Cameron Mann.
“We knew the titular character of Foster Dade would be the heart and soul of this show. We needed an actor that could embody the full range of emotion and toe the line between hero and anti-hero,” Berlanti, Doran and fellow executive producer Sarah Schechter said in a statement. “After a worldwide search and seeing thousands of talented young actors we were lucky enough to find Jack Alldridge. Fresh out of drama school, Jack is an extraordinary talent. He has a bright future ahead and we are lucky to be a part of it.”
Hulu ordered the Foster Dade pilot in August after about four months of development. The drama is one of mega-producer Berlanti’s first teleplay credits since the pilot episode of You in 2018 (he has “developed by” and story credits on most of the many series he has produced). He and Doran wrote the pilot, a mystery is set at an East Coast boarding school that will explore privilege, scandal, sexuality, and masculinity amid the rise of social media, millennial anxiety and pharmaceuticals.
At the center is Alldridge’s Foster, who arrives at the school as a “lonely, anxious, ferocious reader who self-medicates and blogs at his psychologist’s insistence,” according to a character description. “Possessed of a depth of soul he doesn’t yet know what to do with, he aches to be liked, to fall in love, to be known in a way his fractured home life never allowed. He has no idea that his hunger for reinvention will place him at the center of the greatest scandal the school has ever seen and that his name will be whispered by Kennedy students for decades to come.”
Warner Bros. TV, where Berlanti and his eponymous production company have a rich overall deal, is producing Foster Dade. Berlanti and Doran executive produce with Berlanti Productions’ Schechter, Leigh London Redman and Robbie Rogers; Donald De Line of De Line Pictures; and author Jenkins. Daniel Minahan (Fellow Travelers, Deadwood: The Movie) will direct the pilot.
Alldridge is a relative newcomer to the industry, having graduated from the Guildford School of Acting in England in 2023. He plays Harry Garfield, the son of President James Garfield (Michael Shannon), in Netflix’s Death by Lightning and has roles in Call the Midwife and ITV and BritBox’s The Lady on tap for 2026. Alldridge is repped by Hatch, Anonymous Content and CAA.
