What the Cast of the New Perry Mason Looks Like in Real Life
What the Cast of the New Perry Mason Looks Like in Real Life
It's been quite a year for shows set in the 1930s and 1940s (Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, on Showtime, for example) and those that recall the Golden Age of Hollywood (Ryan Murphy's Hollywood, on Netflix). The latest series to pay homage to this time and place is the upcoming HBO reboot of Perry Mason, about the iconic fictional criminal defense lawyer. First brought to life by Erle Stanley Gardner in a series of novels published from the 1930s through the 1970s, the character has been adapted for multiple television programs, films, and a long-running radio show over the last century. The best-known iteration was a long-running CBS drama, starring Raymond Burr, that aired from 1957 through 1966.
Set in 1932 Los Angeles, the new Perry Mason will focus on the attorney's origin story. Living on the cheap as a low-rent private investigator during the Great Depression, Mason is haunted by his World War I experiences and a broken marriage. Meanwhile, L.A's film industry is booming, and the city will soon host the Summer Olympics — but a child kidnapping gone very wrong sends Mason on a path to discover the city's dark underbelly. The reboot will feature a few of the original characters and brand-new ones. In light of the new HBO show take a look at the original Perry Mason cast, as well as the new characters and the actors who play them.
Matthew Rhys as Perry Mason
Played originally by Raymond Burr (above left), Perry Mason is a lawyer character who first appeared in Erle Stanley Gardner's 1933 novel, The Case of the Velvet Claws. Gardener wrote over 80 novels featuring the character, who usually secures an acquittal for his clients accused of murder. In the HBO reboot Matthew Rhys (above right) plays Mason before he became a sought-after lawyer, when he was still a low-budget detective who is called upon to solve a child kidnapping.
Juliet Rylance as Della Street
Della Street is Perry Mason's legal secretary, originally played by Barbara Hale (above left) and now played by Juliet Rylance (above right). In the first Perry Mason novel, Street is revealed to have come from a wealthy family that lost everything in the stock market crash of 1929. In the new show, Della must navigate the sexist politics of being a woman in a man's world.
Chris Chalk as Paul Drake
Paul Drake is Perry Mason's right-hand man and fellow detective. Originally played by William Hopper (above left) —who was the son of famous gossip columnist Hedda Hopper—Chris Chalk (above right) takes up the role this time around. In the original series, Drake often finds himself in hairy situations while trying to get last-minute information to help Mason win a case. In the reboot, Drake is cop with savvy detective skills, who must also grapple with being a Black man in an oppressive police department during a racially-charged moment in L.A.'s history.
John Lithgow as Elias Birchard “E.B.” Jonathan
Veteran actor John Lithgow plays a newly created character: E.B. Jonathan, a mentor and father figure to Perry Mason. Johnson is an attorney at the end of his career, who has not seen a case this complicated in many years. He calls in his protege, Perry Mason, to lend a hand.
Tatiana Maslany as Sister Alice
Tatiana Maslany, of Orphan Black, will play another new character: Sister Alice, the leader of the Radiant Assembly of God, who preaches multiple sermons a day on radio programs. Sister Alice holds a lot of power in Los Angeles, and no one's sure whose side the fervent Evangelical is really on.
Shea Whigham as Pete Strickland
Shea Whigham (Boardwalk Empire) will play Pete Strickland, hired by Mason to be an extra set of eyes on the key players in the kidnapping investigation. Sometimes Strickland's methods are... less than above board.
Gayle Rankin as Emily Dodson
Gayle Rankin (GLOW) plays Emily Dodson, the mother of a 1-year-old kidnapping victim. Dodson is convinced that she is being punished by God for an unknown sin.
See how the HBO reboot characters look off screen, and compared to their counterparts in the original series.