Daniel Zolghadri Replaces Charles Melton in My Darling California
Daniel Zolghadri has replaced Charles Melton in Elijah Bynum's My Darling California, as reported by Variety on 30 September 2026. Melton has dropped out of the project. Zolghadri now takes over his part. Casting is now set.
Zolghadri will play a character called Kent, Variety reported. It is the role Melton had been set to fill. He joins an ensemble that includes Jessica Chastain, Chris Pine, Chris Evans, Mikey Madison and Don Cheadle. Five familiar names. One new arrival.
The film is set in Los Angeles in 1980. It centres on a televangelist, a preacher with a television ministry, and his newscaster wife. The couple try to contain a scandal that could ruin their careers. The scandal threatens both livelihoods and reputations. Husband and wife sit at the centre of the story.
The production will shoot entirely in California, keeping the cameras in the state where the story is set, according to Variety. That means locations, stages and crew will be based there. No extra location work outside the state is planned under the current plan. The plan was confirmed in the latest production details.
The producers are David Hinojosa, Alex Coco and Sébastien Raybaud. They are joined by Scott Budnick and Ameet Shukla of 1Community and by Emily Blavatnik and Danny Cohen of Access Entertainment. Len Blavatnik and Zach Nutman of 2AM serve as executive producers, a senior credit often linked to finance or high-level backing. A producer helps steer a film from development to delivery.
Anton produced, backed and sold the film and handled its international sales, the business of licensing cinema distribution rights country by country. Anton and CAA Media Finance now co-represent US and global rights, which means finding buyers for cinemas and later platforms at home and abroad. Zolghadri is represented by UTA and Circle Management + Production, Variety reported. Agencies and management firms handle deals and day-to-day career guidance.
For viewers, this means a straight swap in one key part. The leads remain in place. The setting remains the same. The California shoot remains the same. The ensemble story does not change. Only the actor playing Kent changes.
