Australian actress Toni Collette is to star in a new television series from Black-ish creator Kenya Barris. The series, titled Unit Zero, is a spy drama in which Collette plays "brilliant but unassuming" CIA engineer Jackie Fink. (Who is also a "single mom"; cue scenes juggling international spy missions and feeding the kids.) The series, which will be written by Lindsey Shockley, is Collette's first television project since she starred in Showtime's The United States of Tara. ABC Studios has ordered a pilot for Unit Zero which will be screened to program buyers in May.

Jackson stars in Star

The daughter of pop legend Michael Jackson is to step properly out of the shadows and into a high-profile television role. Paris Jackson, the 18-year-old daughter of Jackson and nurse Debbie Rowe is to take a role in Star, the new music industry drama from Empire producer Lee Daniels. (Daniels also directed Precious and The Butler.) In Star Jackson will play Rachel Wells, a social media guru who crosses paths with the girl-group around which the series is set. Despite a relatively low media profile as a teenager, Jackson has appeared on Oprah's Next Chapter and Ellen.

Kelley ropes soap

Australian actress Nathalie Kelley is to take a starring role in the reboot of the 1980s supersoap Dynasty. Peruvian-born and Sydney-raised Kelley will play Cristal, the Hispanic second wife of billionaire tycoon Blake Carrington. In the original series the character, named Krystle, was played by Linda Evans. The reboot will focus on her rivalry with Blake's adult daughter Fallon. Kelley's US credits include The Vampire Diaries, Body of Proof, Mistresses and UnReal. The reboot of Dynasty is being produced for CBS Studios by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage.

Rihanna's Bates' mate

A newly released trailer for the fifth season of Bates Motel has given fans of the series their first glimpse at Rihanna in the role of Marion Crane. The casting is a major coup for the television prequel to Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 masterpiece Psycho. In Hitchcock's film Crane, played by screen legend Janet Leigh, was an embezzler on the run from the police who makes the fatal decision to take shelter at the Bates Motel during a storm. The fifth season of the series, which stars Freddie Highmore as serial killer Norman Bates, will be its last.