PHOTOS VIDEOS Meet the Witches of East End from new Lifetime series

Lifetime is breathing magic back into Sunday nights with their new supernatural drama Witches of East End based on the New York Times best-selling novel of the same name by Melissa de la Cruz. The series features the bewitching ladies of the mysterious Beauchamp family living in the secluded seaside town of East Haven, New York, and has an all-star cast that includes Emmy Award-winner Julia Ormond (Temple Grandin, Mad Men), Mädchen Amick (Mad Men, Damages), Jenna Dewan Tatum (Step Up, American Horror Story) and Rachel Boston (In Plain Sight).

In case you missed the premiere or are just curious about tuning in, I’ve put together a cast primer featuring photos and brief video clips of all the enchanting Beauchamp ladies and the actresses that play them.

First up we have Joanna Beauchamp (above), the more-than-seemingly ageless free-spirited artist played by Julia Ormond. Julia is the down-to-earth mother of two daughters named Freya and Ingrid who has managed to keep the Beauchamp family birthright a secret from her daughters — and of course that secret is that their mom and they themselves are, in fact, immortal witches. But Joanna is forced to abandon her magic-free life and reveal everything to her daughters when her sister Wendy shows up after a 100-year absence with a warning that could change the family’s fate forever. But is it too late?

VIDEO Meet Witches of East End‘s Joanna Beauchamp:

Julia Ormond (From Lifetime)

Among her film work, Julia Ormond starred in the epic Legends of the Fall alongside actors Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins and Aidan Quinn and played the lead role opposite Harrison Ford in the film Sabrina, directed by Sydney Pollack. In 2008, she starred again with Brad Pitt in the fantasy-drama The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and also worked with Benicio del Toro in Steven Soderbergh’s biopic Che. Other credits include Jennifer Lynch’s Surveillance, Chained and Zal Batmanglij’s The East, which premiered at Sundance this year. In 2010, she received an Emmy® Award for her role in the HBO movie Temple Grandin and in 2012 was nominated for a second Emmy for her guest role on Mad Men.

Ormond executive produced Calling the Ghosts: A Story of Rape, War and Women, which was used as a lobbying tool for the arrest of indicted war criminals in the former Yugoslavia. She is the founder and president of the Alliance to Stop Slavery and End Trafficking (ASSET), which works to advance systemic changes needed to eradicate slavery. She is a former United Nations Goodwill Ambassador Against Trafficking and Slavery and the founding co-chair of Film Aid International. She is the recipient of The World Economic Forum’s Crystal Award and Women for Women International’s Peace Award for her advocacy work.

Next up we have Freya Beauchamp (played by Jenna Dewan-Tatum), Joanna’s youngest daughter famous for her stunning looks and wild ways. Freya is passionate and strong-willed and of course found the perfect job for her skillset: a bartender. Freya is recently engaged to Dash Gardiner, who is just as sexy as his name, but as you might have guessed with Freya, she can’t help but be drawn to someone else — Dash’s mysterious and also sexy brother, Killian. Will Freya be able to mix her newfound powers with her unrestrained personality without doing more damage than good?

VIDEO Meet Witches of East End‘s Freya Beauchamp:

Jenna Dewan Tatum (from Lifetime)

Jenna Dewan Tatum first captured audience’s attention when she appeared on-screen in the lead role in the hit film Step Up. Her extraordinary talent lit up the big screen. She was first discovered by a dance agent and toured alongside numerous highly successful musical entertainers. Dewan Tatum most recently starred in the popular FX miniseries American Horror Story: Asylum, starring opposite Adam Levine, Jessica Lange and Zachary Quinto. She can also be seen in the Anchor Bay film 10 Years, which premiered at the 2011 Toronto Film Festival with an ensemble cast that included Anthony Mackie, Justin Long and Kate Mara. Prior to that, she starred as one of the leads in the Lionsgate film Setup opposite Bruce Willis and 50 Cent. Her other film credits include American Virgin, The Six Wives of Henry Lefay with Tim Allen, New Line Cinema’s Take the Lead opposite Antonio Banderas and The Legend of Hell’s Gate.

In addition to being an actor and dancer, Dewan Tatum started the production company 33andOut with Channing Tatum. Their first production is a documentary, Earth Made of Glass, which centers on Rwandan President Paul Kagame and genocide survivor Jean- Pierre Sagahutu. The film premiered at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival. Dewan Tatum is also an advocate of animal rights, supporting the efforts of numerous philanthropic organizations including PETA and Southern California’s The Gentle Barn.

Freya’s older sister is Ingrid Beauchamp (played by Rachel Boston), and the two siblings couldn’t be more unalike — well, except for their amazing Beauchamp good looks! While Freya is raising hell and pouring drinks for a living, Ingrid is crippled by shyness and spends her days in the quiet recesses of the library where she punches the clock as a librarian. Though she is always willing to do whatever is asked of her to help her friends and family, Ingrid tends to lead with her mind instead of her heart, and as such, has very little in the way of a romantic life. Not helping is the fact that she seems oblivious to the fact that she seems blind to her own attractiveness. So what impact will finding out that she is a super powerful and immortal witch have on her self esteem?

VIDEO Meet Witches of East End‘s Freya Beauchamp:

Rachel Boston (from Lifetime)

Born and raised in Signal Mountain, Tennessee, Rachel Boston fell in love with theater at the age of seven when she was cast in a church production. At 17, she moved to New York City to pursue an acting career. She received a scholarship to study at New York University and also studied at Fordham University and The Actor’s Center. For her starring role as Mindy in the independent feature The Pill, Boston was honored with the Stargazer Award for the most talented emerging actress at the Gen Art Film Festival in New York City, the Best Actress Award from the San Diego Film Festival and the Emerging Artist Award from the Big Apple Film Festival. She also appeared with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel in the Golden Globe®-nominated film 500 Days of Summer, and co-starred alongside Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.

Boston began her career in television on NBC’s award-winning series American Dreams, playing Beth Mason, the strong-willed girlfriend of J.J. Pryor (Will Estes). She also produced and starred in the Lifetime® film, Holiday High School Reunion, which aired through the 2012 Christmas season. Previously, Boston also starred on the CBS series The Ex List as Daphne Bloome, the free-spirited sister of Bella Bloome. Some of her guest-starring appearances include Grey’s Anatomy, Curb Your Enthusiasm, ER, Rules of Engagement and The Closer.

In much the same way that Freya and Ingrid have vastly different personalities, Joanna and her sister Wendy Beauchamp (played by Mädchen Amick) seem to be cut form a different cloth! Wendy brings the sass and attitude of Freya and mixes it with a wicked sense of humor and, oh yeah, the ability to turn into a cat. Wendy is sort of the black cat that crosses the Beauchamp family path as she shows up in Joanna’s life after a 100-year absence with some rather foreboding news about a dark force that is coming after the Beauchamp family. Wendy’s return and her unsettling warning force Joanna to reveal the Beachamp family secrets to her daughters as they all prepare for the coming danger.

VIDEO Meet Witches of East End‘s Wendy Beauchamp:

Mädchen Amick (from Lifetime)

Hailing from Reno, Nevada, Mädchen Amick’s name means “maiden” or “young woman” in German. When she was 16, Amick moved to Los Angeles, where she found work in modeling and music videos. Her acting career began with roles on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Baywatch. Shortly thereafter, director David Lynch, who played a pivotal role in her development as an actress, chose her to play waitress Shelly Johnson on the cult TV classic Twin Peaks.

Amick’s feature credits include Stephen King’s Sleepwalkers, Trapped in Paradise opposite Nicolas Cage, Scenes of the Crime with Jeff Bridges, and most recently, the Screen Gem’s post-apocalyptic thriller Priest opposite Paul Bettany and Christopher Plummer. Additionally, she has appeared on television series such as Californication, Damages and Mad Men. Amick resides in California and is married with two children.

Witches of East End premieres October 6 at 10/9c on Lifetime and will air Sunday nights at the same time. You can keep up with the show via their very active Facebook and Twitter accounts:

Witches of East End Facebook page
Witches of East End on Twitter: @WitchesEastEnd