NBC Drama ‘Hunting Party’ Adds ‘La Brea’ Alum Josh McKenzie to Cast

“La Brea” star Josh McKenzie is returning to NBC. Variety has learned exclusively that the actor has joined the network’s upcoming drama series “The Hunting Party.”

The show was picked up to series back in February. McKenzie will star alongside previously announced cast members Melissa Roxburgh (herself an alumna of NBC’s “Manifest”), Sara Garcia, and Patrick Sabongui.

The logline for the series states it is “a high-concept crime procedural about a small team of investigators who are assembled to track down and capture the most dangerous killers our country has ever seen, all of whom have just escaped from a top-secret prison that’s not supposed to exist.”

McKenzie will star as Shane Florence, described as “Selfless, sincere and charismatic. Shane is a former soldier in Iraq and a prison guard at a highly classified facility.”

McKenzie played Lucas Hayes throughout “La Brea’s” three season run at NBC. He is also known for his roles in shows like “Five Bedrooms,” “The New Adventures of Monkey,” “Ahikaroa,” and “Filthy Rich,” as well as films like “The Hopes & Dreams of Gazza Snell,” for which he won a New Zealand Film Award. He will next be seen in Season 2 of the Australian series “The Twelve.”

McKenzie is repped by Atlas Artists, Independent Management Company in Australia, and Odd Management in New Zealand

JJ Bailey is the creator of “The Hunting Party” and wrote the pilot. He also serves as executive producer and co-showrunner, with Jake Coburn also credited as a writer on the series as well as executive producer and co-showrunner. Universal Television will produce, with Bailey under an overall deal at UTV while Coburn is under a first-look deal.