Syfy's 'The Expanse' space drama casts Shohreh Aghdashloo

Syfy’s next big space drama series The Expanse has nabbed an Emmy winner and Oscar nominee: Shohreh Aghdashloo (House of Saddam, 24, House of Sand and Fog) will co-star in the upcoming space opera, which is based on James S. A. Corey’s bestselling book series. Also newly cast: Actor Steven Strait (Magic City, 10,000 BC).

The Expanse is set 200 years in the future and follows a missing young woman who brings a hardened detective (Thomas Jane) and a rogue ship’s captain (Strait) together in a race across the solar system to expose a conspiracy.

Aghdashloo plays Chrisjen Avasarala, a “smart and passionate member of a political family legacy who has risen high in the ranks of Earth’s governing body without once standing for election.” Strait’s character, Holden, is described as “a natural leader who’s not sure he wants responsibility, but who will soon have no choice when he is drawn into a dangerous plot.

The 10-episode series debuts next year.