At the TCA (Television Critics Association) press tour today, Showtime announced the first two actors who have been cast in the cable channel's upcoming series Penny Dreadful, which is executive produced by the Skyfall team of John Logan and Sam Mendes.

Josh Hartnett (Pearl Harbor) and Eva Green (Casino Royale) will star in the series, set in turn of the century London and focused on famous horror characters, including Dracula, Van Helsing, Dorian Gray and Dr. Frankenstein.Hartnett will play Ethan Chandler, described as “a charming American who finds himself trapped in the darkest corners of Victorian London,” with Green playing Vanessa Ives, “a seductive and formidable beauty full of secrets and danger.”Asked to elaborate on the characters, Showtime producer David Nevins was torn when it came to secrecy, describing Ethan as “An American ‘fake cowboy” and elaborating that, “In turn of the century London, there were American cowboy shows that were very popular in London. He impresses the London society women and there is an intense dark side to the character that… I’m going to wait until January to give you more details. I’m not going to say too much about Penny Dreadful because John Logan is extremely protective.”As for who Vanessa is, he began to say she was, “The fulcrum of the show who is in some kind of…” and then stopped, remarking, “I’m trying to decide whether John is going to kill me for doing this! So let’s just say Vanessa!”Nevins went on to say that Penny Dreadful, which begins production in October for a spring debut, is “an existing mix of genres. It's literary horror." Logan is writing all eight episodes, with Juan Antonio Bayona (The Orphanage, The Impossible) directing the pilot.Among Showtime’s other announcements today was that Shameless, House of Lies and Episodes will all be back on January 12th, with Californication and Nurse Jackie debuting their new seasons in the spring.Showtime also revealed they’d ordered a pilot for Trending Down, described as “a blistering attack on our youth-obsessed culture” starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman. The description reads: “On his birthday, Thom Payne gets the gift of insignificance and also a new boss. He suspects his ED pills are interfering with his anti-depressants, leaving him with neither happiness nor… happiness. In a culture that reveres youth – a culture he helped create – Thom needs to figure out what his purpose is now that he's halfway to death and nobody cares what he thinks. Because in a world where any Kardashian is trending up, perhaps the wise among us would heartily embrace trending down.”Work is being completed on the pilot for Showtime's The Vatican, starring Kyle Chandler and directed by Ridley Scott.