Amazon has found its replacement for Sam Esmail for the second season of “Homecoming,” tapping “Stanford Prison Experiment” director Kyle Patrick Alvarez. Additionally, Stephan James and Hong Chau will reprise their roles from the first season.
They join Janelle Monae, who was previously announced to star in the drama’s second season. Monae succeeds Julia Roberts, who starred in the first season that was directed by “Mr. Robot” creator Sam Esmail. Monae will play “a tenacious woman who finds herself floating in a canoe, with no memory of how she got there — or even who she is.”
“We’re so lucky to have Kyle Alvarez on board to direct Season Two — his enthusiasm and relentless creativity are already taking the show in exciting new directions,” said series creators and executive producers Micah Bloomberg and Eli Horowitz. “And we’re thrilled that Stephan and Hong will be returning — we can’t wait to watch as they take their characters on these surprising journeys, far beyond anything we could have expected.”
Esmail directed all 10 episodes of the show’s first season. Roberts had only signed on for the first season, and is already in talks to star in another Amazon series, “Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win.” Both are still attached as executive producers.
An adaption of Gimlet Media’s podcast of the same name, “Homecoming” Season 1 centered on Roberts’ character, Heidi Bergman, a caseworker at a support center helping soldiers transition back to civilian life. Few plot details for Season 2 have been released thus far, but the show is expected to deviate further from its source material and introduce new characters.
James starred as Walter Cruz, a soldier who returned home and was being treated by Bergman at the Homecoming facility. Chau had a recurring role as Audrey Temple, an assistant who worked for the facility’s corporate backer, The Geist Group.
The first season, based on Micah Bloomberg and Eli Horowitz’s podcast for Gimlet Media, centered on Bergman (Roberts), a caseworker at the Homecoming Transitional Support Center — a facility helping soldiers transition back to civilian life — and her work with one of those soldiers, Walter Cruz (James).