Ray Donovan season 6: Susan Sarandon returning as series regular

Ray Donovan season 5 finale

CarterMatt has some wonderful Ray Donovan season 6 casting news to report: Susan Sarandon is coming back and with a very significant role.

Showtime announced on Thursday that the acting icon will be a series regular on their upcoming season as the powerful studio head Sam Winslow. She made a very clear mark on the lives of Ray and many others in her first go-around, but her return here is both welcome and somewhat-surprising in that we weren’t quite sure that we were going to have an opportunity to get more of her. Often when a premium-cable show casts these enormous names it’s often for an arc that lasts only one season. In this case, we were even more doubtful of Sarandon’s future just because Ray Donovan itself is moving its setting for season 6 over to New York City after spending the first five years in Los Angeles. This is a huge change, especially for this show given that the city of Los Angeles is very much a character in the story.

Ultimately, we do think that this is a great time to continue the story of Winslow just because of the writing opportunities it presents. In between equal-pay movements and everything happening with Time’s Up this is an enormous moment of significance within the entertainment industry; keeping a character like this around enables the Ray Donovan writers to add some commentary to this subject at a time in which it is very much needed.

The unfortunate thing right now is having to wait a little bit longer than usual in order to see the story continued. Due in part to some of the changes to the show and the time needed in order to craft the right story, season 6 is not going to premiere on Showtime until the fall. Previously, we have thought of Ray Donovan as a little bit more of a summer show. It should prove interesting to see if the change in schedule has any impact on either the ratings or the way in which the producers choose to tell some of these stories.

Related Be sure to check out some additional news right now when it comes to the series, including some of our thoughts on the finale last season?

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