Lucy Griffiths Leaves Constantine

From The Hollywood Reporter, we get news that Lucy Griffiths will be leaving NBC’s Constantine.  In the pilot, Griffiths played Liv Aberdine — a novice who has the ability to see the supernatural.  Her character was introduced as the daughter of one of Constantine’s dead friends.  Griffiths, who started her on-screen career in 2006, previously played Nora Gainesborough in True Blood.

The part will not be recast.  Instead, a new character, Zed, will be introduced in early episodes.  When asked by Entertainment Weekly about the changes, executive producer Daniel Cerone had this to say:

"When you put a wide-eyed innocent into that world, she’s just very reactive … The nice thing about Swamp Thing, when he first teamed up with Constantine, was that Swamp Thing had abilities, Swamp Thing had skills. Constantine needed those skills. One of the coolest things about Constantine he doesn’t have any ‘powers.’ He came out of a time with all these superheroes with their garish colors and flashy powers, and he just comes out with a rumpled coat, wearing browns and greys, and he just knows a lot magic and spells, but it’s all knowledge-based. Anything he can do is based in knowledge and his own studying. Zed is actually one of the first women Constantine meets in the comic books, and she has various psychic powers. We felt ultimately she’s going to service the first season better as someone to pair Constantine up with. She can get in his face a little bit and have some of her own realizations and skills and really push him. But if whoever Constantine is working with is constantly on her heels, that just wouldn’t service the show really well."

The part of Zed, whose full name is Mary “Zed” Martin, has not been cast yet, but the character is a familiar face to Hellblazer fans.  She has many psychic abilities and is one of the first females Constantine meets in the comic books.  Originally recruited by an extreme Christian group, Zed becomes Constantine’s very outspoken sidekick.

NBC will premiere Constantine on Friday October 24, 2014 at 10:00PM EST.