Raymond Lee will play lead character Dr. Ben Seong in the Quantum Leap reboot series in the works at NBC.
The new Quantum Leap has found its lead star. Deadline reports that Raymond Lee has just been cast in the hour-long pilot for the new Quantum Leap reboot as Dr. Ben Seong, a spiritual successor to Scott Bakula’s Dr. Sam Beckett. Dr. Seong is both a scientist and man of faith who’s described as a “world-renowned physicist working on a time travel project known as Quantum Leap.”
The reboot connects to the original series by acknowledging Dr. Beckett, though it remains unclear if Bakula will be making an appearance if the show gets picked up to series. In the reboot, it’s been 30 years since Dr. Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished. Now a new team has been assembled to restart the project in the hopes of understanding the mysteries behind the machine and the man who created it. Lee’s Dr. Seong gets stuck in the late 1980s with amnesia after using the Quantum Leap technology on himself in the pilot.
Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt (La Brea) wrote the pilot. The pair are also executive producing with Blindspot creator Martin Gero, Quantum Leap creator Don Bellisario, and co-narrator Deborah Pratt. It is produced by Universal Television with Lilien and Wynbrandt serving as EPs for I Have an Idea! Entertainment with Bellisario serving under Blisarius Productions and Gero via his Quinn’s House Productions.
Should the series go to series, it would mark Raymond Lee’s biggest role to date. He is currently a series regular on AMC’s Kevin Can F*** Himself which is in the midst of its second and final season. Lee is also known for starring on HBO’s Here and Now with other credits including Made for Love, Prodigal Son, and Mozart in the Jungle. The actor can also be seen in the upcoming sequel Top Gun: Maverick.
Will Scott Bakula Return In the Quantum Leap Reboot Series?
Per Deadline, Scott Bakula is not signed on to reprise his role as Dr. Sam Beckett in the new Quantum Leap. This is not to say that an appearance is impossible. Bakula did tease last year that he’s open to a return. There may not be as much of a push to get him involved in the pilot episode, as it would seem that building up to the character’s return is more likely with a new lead character in place for the reboot.
Should NBC order the pilot to series, maybe we would see Bakula back later on in the first season. Many fans of the original series will certainly be hoping so after the controversial way the show ended. Rather than giving viewers a definitive conclusion, a title card (which misspells Dr. Beckett’s name) states that the character never found his way back home. It was not the most satisfying way to conclude th story for fans who’d been watching along from the start.
A new Quantum Leap would be able to continue the story with a new cast while finally providing some answers as to what really happened with Dr. Beckett. Let’s just hope that Bakula ends up signing on so in the end, viewers can finally see him come back home.
Read Next
About The Author
