Chicago Fire actress Eloise Mumford cast in The Right Stuff

Chicago Fire’s Eloise Mumford will be returning to TV next year in NatGeo’s adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s book The Right Stuff.

Eloise Mumford is moving from firefighter drama to astronaut drama, as she’s joined the cast of the upcoming NatGeo drama The Right Stuff.

The Chicago Fire alum, who played Hope Jacquinot in the first part of season 6, will co-star in the series that tells the true story of NASA’s famed Mercury Seven astronaut squad.

It’s adapted from the 1979 book by Tom Wolfe, which was previously made into a movie in 1983 starring Ed Harris, Scott Glenn, Sam Shepard, Dennis Quaid, Fred Ward and Barbara Hershey. The film earned eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and won four Oscars.

So the bar is set pretty high for the TV adaptation, where Mumford is portraying Trudy Cooper, the wife of astronaut Gordo Cooper (played by Joe Dempsie, Game of Thrones).

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It’s obviously a much healthier relationship than the one her character was in on Chicago Fire. Hope came to town as the childhood friend of Sylvie Brett (Kara Killmer), then quickly had a fling with Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney).

The hookup became an obsession on Hope’s part, as she got a job at the firehouse and used her position to undermine Severide’s then ex-girlfriend Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo), even getting Stella transferred out of Firehouse 51 before Hope was found out and promptly fired.

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Hope was briefly mentioned later in the season, trying to reconnect with Brett on Facebook, and that didn’t go well either.

It’s not likely she ever turns up on the show again, given how badly she behaved—and how Severide and Stella are now happily back together, so there wouldn’t be much use for Hope except to have yet another ex of Severide’s come back out of the woodwork.

But The Right Stuff should be a great project for Eloise Mumford. The cast is excellent—aside from her and Dempsie, it also includes Patrick J. Adams (Suits), Jake McDorman (Murphy Brown, Limitless), and Patrick Fischler (Mad Men, Twin Peaks).

NatGeo has also been very good with its forays into more scripted drama. It’s also the network that airs Mars, which starred Jeff Hephner this season as the leader of a corporate mining crew that descends on the Red Planet.

The Right Stuff begins shooting in fall 2019 and is expected to premiere in 2020, though NatGeo hasn’t announced a specific premiere date yet. Until then, you can click the video below to revisit one of Eloise Mumford’s moments on Chicago Fire.

For the latest Chicago Fire season 7 spoilers and news, plus more on the entire series, follow the Chicago Fire category at One Chicago Center.