ABC’s ‘Castle’ season 8: Toks Olagundoye on Hayley’s role
“Castle” season 8 is premiering on Monday night, and the show will not waste time before unveiling one of the latest new additions to the series in Hayley Shipton, played by “The Neighbors” alum Toks Olagundoye. She is a former member of Scotland Yard seemingly serving as some sort of security specialist, and she runs into Richard Castle and some members of the NYPD in a surprising way in the premiere “XY.”
We’ve seen the premiere (read some more teases for it here), and we can confirm that this is a complex, physical, and fun role more than likely for Olagundoye to play. We’re not interested in really spoiling what is going on with this character, but it is definitely the case where she is more than meets the eye.
Is it possible that someone may have an eye for Hayley romantically? We’ve already heard from Jon Huertas that Esposito is at least aware of her, but at the same time, the actress confirms to TVLine that she was not brought onto this show simply to be someone’s love interest, which is sadly almost always a concern that people have right after someone is cast in a major role on a long-running series:
“I would have resented, after 21 years as an actor, to be brought on a show simply to be somebody’s romantic interest. [Laughs] It’s not a soap opera. So I like the fact that work is No. 1 on her plate; you shouldn’t have time for anything else. I mean, she’s flying between countries, for God’s sake, to get her work done! [Laughs] I do like showing, ‘Yeah, there are women in this world who aren’t just looking for guys.’ It’s kinda cool.”
In the early going, Hayley does spend a little bit of time around Ryan and Esposito, but it feels almost like some of her most notable time could come around Alexis, where she serves as an influence in some ways to her.
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