Zach Gilford (“Friday Night Lights,” “The Purge: Anarchy”) 
and Jonathan Cake (“Desperate Housewives”) have been cast in USA Network’s original drama pilot STANISTAN. They join previously announced Jennifer Carpenter (“Dexter”) who will play Public Affairs Officer Marcie Post.
Gilford will play Phillip Guthrey, an Infrastructure Manager for USAID. Phillip is Marcie’s (Carpenter) closest friend in the country, and though he’d like for their friendship to become something more, his unrequited love is not his only secret.
Cake will take on the role of Greg Weir, a suave and fearless on-air foreign correspondent who is entangled in a complicated affair with Marcie, but his quest to uncover the real story in war torn STANISTAN will put him and his relationship in danger.
Gilford, best known for his role as Matt Saracen in the critically acclaimed drama “Friday Night Lights,” was most recently seen starring in “The Purge: Anarchy” for Universal, directed by James DeMonaco. Recent feature credits include “Devil’s Due,” directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett and Jee Woon Kim’s “The Last Stand” opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger. Gilford was a series regular on “The Mob Doctor” and can also be seen in the independent feature “In Our Nature” with John Slattery, Gabrielle Union and Jena Malone as well as “Long Time Gone” alongside Virginia Madsen and Anthony LaPaglia. He’s also starred in “Dare” opposite Emmy Rossum, “Super” opposite Ellen Page and Rainn Wilson and “Post Grad” opposite Alexis Bledel, Michael Keaton and Carol Burnett. Gilford made his feature film debut starring in Larry Fessenden’s “The Last Winter” which was nominated for a 2008 Gotham Award for “Best Ensemble Cast.” His past credits also include “Off the Map,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Law & Order: SVU” and “Rise: Blood Hunter” opposite Lucy Liu. Gilford is repped by William Morris Endeavor.
Cake has appeared in numerous roles on stage and on screen in the UK and the US. His recent film and television work includes “Doll & Em,” “Brideshead Revisited,” “Desperate Housewives” and “Law & Order.” On stage Cake recently took on the title role in the Shakespeare Globe production of “Coriolanus,” and also starred in “A Flea in Her Ear” at the Old Vic, as Benedick in Theater for a New Audience’s “Much Ado About Nothing” in New York and as Mark Antony in “Antony and Cleopatra” at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Cake is repped by Larry Taube at Principal and Brad Schenck at Paradigm.
STANISTAN follows the staff at the American compound in the fictional country of STANISTAN, where State Department workers, covert CIA officers and journalists strike a delicate balance of danger and levity. From Universal Cable Productions, STANISTAN is written by Andy Parker, who also is supervising producer, with Richard Scarth, Mary Louise Vitelli and Maureen Ryan (“Project Nim”) serving as co-executive producers. Steve Scheffer and Michael Duggan are executive producing.
STANISTAN was the first of three pilots to be announced by USA Network followed by COLONY from Carlton Cuse (“Bates Motel”) and MR. ROBOT from Anonymous Content (“True Detective”).
