'Lost in Space' Netflix remake casts Parker Posey in gender-flipped role
Indie film actress Parker Posey will join the Robinson family as Dr. Smith as they grapple with an alien environment far from home.
Parker Posey (seen here in the TV series "Frankenstein") will play Dr. Smith in a "Lost in Space" remake for Netflix.
Fans of the 1960s sci-fi TV series "Lost in Space" remember Dr. Zachary Smith as the easily-annoyed and sometimes sinister psychologist and environmental expert.
Viewers were often wary of the snide personality, lazy demeanor and general lack of ethics of Dr. Smith, who was played expertly by Jonathan Harris. He was the kind of character you love to hate. After all, it's his fault the Robinson family's spaceship flew off course and stranded them in the first place.
On Tuesday, entertainment site Deadline Hollywood announced that the role of Dr. Smith has been gender-flipped and will now be played by none other than indie-movie icon Parker Posey in a remake of the series set to air on Netflix in 2018.
Posey has made a lifelong career playing quirky, eccentric and sometimes annoying characters in such films as "Party Girl," "Dazed and Confused," "Best in Show," "Waiting for Guffman," "A Mighty Wind," "The House of Yes" and more recently, "Mascots."
Posey will join Molly Parker and Toby Stephens as parents Maureen and John Robinson -- and Maxwell Jenkins and Taylor Russell as their children, Will and Judy.
The original show ran for three seasons from 1965 to 1968 on CBS. (Editors note: CNET is owned by CBS.)
The "Lost in Space" reboot from Legendary and Netflix will run 10 one-hour episodes that will follow the adventures of the Robinson family as they are stranded light-years from home.