It looks like there's a new doctor in town. Fox's hit comedy show "The Mindy Project" announced on Tuesday that actor and filmmaker James Franco will be making a two-episode guest appearance as Dr. Paul Leotard. Franco will appear in the first two episodes of the show's second season, which will premiere on Tuesday, September 17.
According to Fox, Franco's Dr. Leotard is "the charismatic and popular doctor who replaces Mindy (Mindy Kaling) at Shulman & Associates while she is in Haiti on a volunteer mission." Leotard, a former professional model, "altered his career goals after he accidentally walked off a runway at fashion week and was saved by a pregnant woman." The event causes the runway model to dedicate his life to helping pregnant women.
The casting news was first shared by the series' Facebook page. Kaling, the show's creator, writer and lead star, later confirmed the news via her Twitter account. The 34-year-old starlet also shared some behind-the-scenes photos of a promo shoot with co-stars Ed Weeks (Dr. Jeremy Reed) and Ike Barinholtz (Morgan Tookers).
"The Mindy Project" became an instant favorite during its freshman run on Fox with Kaling's incredibly witty and hilarious writing and the cast's impeccable timing and delivery. The show left off with Mindy heading off to Haiti with boyfriend Casey (guest star Anders Holm), while Danny (Chris Messina) and Jeremy held down the fort at their practice.
Not much has been revealed about the upcoming second season, although writer and co-star Ike Barinholtz has shared his views on a possible Mindy-Danny relationship. In a June interview with TVLine, Barinholtz said he was fully prepared to have the two couple up by the first season's finale, but was held back by his fellow writers.
"The whole year we were all deeply divided on whether or not [we should 'go there'] with Mindy and Danny," Barinholtz told TVLine. "I wanted to see it. But some other writers said 'No, no, no! Don't do that. Wait.'"
He added, "Well, we waited. But there was still a nice moment at the end [of the finale] that shows there's something there between those two. Looking back, I'm glad that the [other writers] won because hopefully we'll be able to do the show for a while and then, if eventually if the show ends with Mindy and Danny living in a two-bedroom in The Village somewhere, it would be fantastic."
"The Mindy Project" season 2 premieres on September 17 at 9:30 p.m. on Fox.