Casting Begins for Dollhouse

Ausiello at TV Guide has news about some of the first characters to be cast on Dollhouse, including a Battlestar Galactica alum:

Joss Whedon is letting his obsession with Battlestar Galactica get the best of him — and I couldn’t be happier about it!

Whedon has tapped Galactica stud Tahmoh Penikett (aka Helo) to play Eliza Dushku’s “twisted romantic foil” in Dollhouse, a spokesperson for Twentieth Television confirms. Also joining the Dollhouse ensemble are Fran Kranz (CBS’ Welcome to the Captain), Aussie actress Dichen Lachman and relative newcomer Enver Gjokaj.

Penikett’s character, Paul Smith (originally named Paul Ballard), is described as an FBI agent who becomes obsessed with both the urban myth that is Dollhouse and its most recognizable inhabitant, Echo (Dushku).

Kranz, meanwhile, has been cast as Dollhouse’s nerdy programmer Topher Brink, the dude responsible for imprinting the dolls. Lachman, who starred in the Australian series Neighbours, will play Sierra, a Doll similar to Echo, only not as self aware. And last but not least, Gjokaj will play Echo’s buddy Victor, a handsome Doll who is childlike when inactive and everything from Errol Flynn to a young De Niro when he’s active.