Jordan Peele might take Rod Serling's role on new Twilight Zone
The executive producer for the CBS All Access revival has "resisted but not ruled out" stepping into the iconic narrator role.
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The Twilight Zone needs a narrator, and who better than Jordan Peele?
Jordan Peele isn't trying to be Rod Serling, but he might step into the legendary Twilight Zone narrator's role.
The Oscar-winning screenwriter serves as executive producer for the new CBS All Access revival of The Twilight Zone. But in an interview, Peele told Variety he's undecided about whether he'll deliver the show's narration, as Serling famously did. (Disclosure: CBS is CNET's parent company.)
Variety says Peele has "resisted but not ruled out" taking on the narrator role.
Serling, who died in 1975, was the creator of the original anthology series, which premiered in 1959. He also began and ended each show with his smartly delivered narration.
Serling's role aside, Peele says he has wondered if he should even take on the revival, due to his great respect for the original show. But after thinking about it, he decided the show's unusual and often allegorical plots were still necessary.
"The realization, for me, was that it was an opportunity to attempt to continue with Serling's mission," Peele told Variety about the revival. "If we approach it without ego and sort of bow to Serling, that will hopefully suffice for our fellow 'Twilight Zone' fans but also bring back a show that I think is needed right now. Because it's a show that has always helped us look at ourselves, hold a mirror up to society."
Peele has already won acclaim for doing just that, taking home the best screenwriting Oscar for his directorial debut, 2017's Get Out.
CBS says the new Twilight Zone will debut in early 2019.
Correction, Aug. 15 at 11:15 a.m.: The original story misstated Peele's role on The Twilight Zone revival. He will serve as executive producer.
