Gina Chiarelli Joins the Cast of Riese!

Gina Chiarelli

Series co-creator Ryan Copple announced today that Gina Chiarelli has joined the cast of Riese the Series. Copple said, “She’s an amazing actress and actually the acting coach Christine (Chatelain) has used. She’s won and been nominated for a LOT of theatre awards. She plays Cacilia, a High Priestess of the Sect, residing in Asgard.”

While sci-fi fans might recognize her from shows such as The Dead Zone, Masters of Science Fiction, and The Outer Limits, Chiarelli has appeared in dozens of shows on television, film and stage. Most recently she received critical acclaim for the film See Grace Fly, in which she plays a schizophrenic woman whose behavior becomes increasingly erratic after the death of her mother.

She was nominated for a Genie Award for Best Actress, won Best Actress at the Vancouver International Film Festival and a Leo Award for Best Actress for her role as Grace, and has half a dozen other awards for various stage and film projects she’s worked on. In addition to being an award-winning actress, Chiarelli is also a producer and personal acting coach.

Chiarelli’s character, Cacilia, will appear in Chapter 2 of Riese, which begins filming soon in Vancouver and will air through various online outlets beginning in early 2010.

Riese is a sci-fi/fantasy series richly influenced by history, mythology, folklore and steampunk. It follows a young woman and her companion, a wolf named Fenrir, who travel through a collapsing world trying to piece together the fragmented memories of her past while attempting to evade the dangerous religious cult that hunts her. With a high budget compared to other web series, and filmed on the RED camera in high definition, the show is visually beautiful. The wardrobe, music and depth of story all contribute to creating the world of Eleysia.

Riese features sci-fi regulars such as Christine Chatelain (Sanctuary, Supernatural, The Collector), Sharon Taylor (Smallville, Stargate Atlantis, Eureka), Patrick Gilmore (Stargate Universe, Battlestar Galactica), Ben Cotton (Harper’s Island, Stargate Atlantis, Taken), Ryan Robbins (Sanctuary, Caprica, Battlestar Galactica, Stargate Atlantis), Peter Kelamis (Stargate Universe, Dragon Ball Z, The X-Files), Emilie Ullerup (Sanctuary, jPod, Battlestar Galactica), Allessandro Juliani (Battlestar Galactica, Smallville, Death Note), and Allison Mack (Smallville, Alice & Huck).