Portia de Rossi Will Play Lily Munster

NBC and Bryan Fuller have finally found their Lily Munster for Mockingbird Lane, the reboot of the 1960s sitcom  The Munsters. Portia de Rossi (Arrested Development) will take on the role originally played by Yvonne De Carlo in the original. De Rossi joins a cast that includes Jerry O’Connell, Eddie Izzard, Mason Cook, and Charity Wakefield in the production of the pilot episode of Mockingbird Lane, which will be directed by Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, X-Men).

NBC had originally wanted Mariana Klaveno for the role, but Klaveno was under contract to ABC to play a supporting role in the ABC series Devious Maids, and the studios evidently couldn’t reconcile their differences.

The Hollywood Reporter noted that Fuller and NBC had tried to revive the Munsters last year, but the new version, which the trade paper described as a "hyper stylized reboot… an "edgier and slightly darker take that will explore the origins of Herman (O’Connell) and Lily (De Rossi) and how they arrived at the famed 1313 Mockingbird Lane."

Lily Munster Cast--Sort OF!

NBC’s Mockingbird Lane, Bryan Fuller’s re-imaging of the classic 1960s monster sitcom The Munsters, is almost ready to begin production with just one key role to cast, that of Lily Munster, Herman’s vampire wife. Fuller wants Mariana Klaveno, who is perhaps best known for her role as Lorena Ball (Krasiki) in HBO’s True Blood. But Klaveno also recently played a role in Devious Maids, a pilot for an ABC series that may or may not be heading to one of ABC’s cable networks rather than the over-the-air parent.

Because of the Devious Maids pilot Klaveno is still under contract to ABC, which has until the end of the month to choose to pick up her option for Devious Maids. NBC wants to get cracking on its Mockingbird Lane project, and according to Deadline, has even offered to allow Klaveno to have a recurring role in Devious Maids as long as the peacock net can have her for Mockingbird Lane.

So far ABC has refused to budge, so we still aren’t sure who will end up playing Lily Munster, who was portrayed memorably by actress Yvonne DeCarlo in the original series. Stay tuned for confirmation one way or the other.