"Constantine" Casts Sexy "Zed," Addresses Character's Smoking

NBC says Angelica Celaya has been cast as Zed in Constantine. Says Constantine character can't smoke too much.

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

NBC has cast telenovela actress Angelica Celaya, a virtual unknown in the U.S., as the female lead on Constantine, the upcoming TV adaptation of the DC comic Hellraser.

The official Constantine page on Facebook posted the news that Celaya would play Mary "Zed" Martin, a character from the comic books who is a former lover of John Constantine and is also a psychic sorceress who battles demon worshipers. 

The announcement came just days after news that Lucy Griffith's character Liv (originally intended to be the lead) was being written out of the show after the first episode. 

Speaking at the Television Critics Association's press tour in L.A. on Sunday, executive producer Daniel Cerone answered questions about the John Constanine character of TV and his comic book counterpart.

Specifically: his bisexuality and his chain smoking. 

In a nutshell, TV Constantine will not be bisexual. Cerone said he's OK with that because in the comics almost all of Constantine's relationships were with women, and his bisexuality came decades into the character's development, Entertainment Weekly reports. 

"So [maybe] 20 years from now? But there are no immediate plans” to show that side of the character, Cerone said.

As for the heavy cigarette smoking, which is a defining trait of the character in the comic book and the 2005 Keanu Reeves movie, it will be toned down heavily for TV. Basically, he'll be a smoker, but broadcast rules prevent them from doing anything that glamorizes that. 

[Via Uproxx]

 

Latest in Pop Culture