Flash Stars

Gina Holden (Fantastic Four) has been cast as Dale Arden, the female lead in SCI FI's upcoming series FLASH GORDON. She will co-star opposite Eric Johnson (Smallville), who plays the title character. In other casting, Jody Racicot (Night at the Museum) will play Dr. Hans Zarkov, and John Ralston (Earthstorm) will play the villainous Ming. Holden, who also appeared in The Butterfly Effect 2 as well as the upcoming Alien vs. Predator 2, will play Flash Gordon's love interest in the show, which is based on the classic SF comic-strip franchise. "During auditions and rehearsals, we could tell this one was the right Dale, because [Johnson] had such good chemistry with her," said Mark Stern, SCI FI's executive vice president of original programming. "We had to find the right actress to work with him, because there's jealousy and a love triangle and friendship involved, and we did not want to stick him with an actress he couldn't stand." Others in the cast include Karen Cliché (Baylin), Giles Panton (Joe), Panou (Nick), Jonathan Walker (Rankol), Jill Teed (Norah), Carmen Moore (Jolie) and Anna van Hoft (Aura). SCI FI has ordered 22 episodes of FLASH GORDON, which began shooting this week in Vancouver, Canada, and will debut in August.