CBS wants non-Caucasian actress to star in new 'Nancy Drew' series

PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 13 (UPI) -- CBS says its Nancy Drew series will feature a racially diverse cast.

CBS Entertainment president Glenn Geller talked to reporters at the Television Critics Association winter press tour Tuesday, saying the network is actively seeking a non-Caucasian actress to star as Nancy Drew.

"She is diverse, that is the way she is written," Geller said of CBS' re-imagining of the character. "[She will] not [be] Caucasian. I'd be open to any ethnicity ... We're not casting color blind, we're casting color conscious."

Geller, who was named president of CBS Entertainment in September, fielded criticism of the network's perceived lack of diversity at the conference. He promised more diverse leads to come, citing the forthcoming shows Rush Hour and Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders as examples.

"I'm diverse, I fall into the LGBT category," he said. "I'm just a gay guy from Indiana who doesn't play basketball. I mentioned my husband earlier, because I want to normalize my diversity. CBS will always reflect what America looks like."

News of the potential Nancy Drew television series first broke in October. Grey's Anatomy producers Joan Rater and Tony Phelan are developing the project, which would follow a thirty-something Nancy Drew working for the NYPD.

Publisher Edward Stratemeyer created the original Nancy Drew character for a series of books several authors ghostwrote under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. The first Nancy Drew book was published in 1930. Pamela Sue Martin and Janet Louise Johnson played the sleuth in the ABC series The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries from 1977 to 1979.