There's a whole slew of female casting notices that have popped up over at Variety:

While Six Feet Under has been dead and buried for a while, two of the show's alums have got new feature gigs. Justina Machado, who played Vanessa on the show, has picked up a role in Eddie Murphy's A Thousand Words. Unfortunately, there's no word on who she'll play -- perhaps someone who steals some of Murphy's last words from him? She was great at nagging on Six Feet. Meanwhile, Momma Fisher, Frances Conroy, has picked up a gig in the Polish brothers' Manure, as a character named Agnes May. THR says she will be "a longtime secretary" at the manure business.

Then there's Kate Jennings Grant. She has picked up a role in The Rebound, that Catherine Zeta-Jones-starring May-December romcom. She'll play Catherine's best friend, Daphne. But before then, we'll get to see her play Diane Sawyer in the upcoming film Frost/Nixon. (That's pretty spot-on casting -- visually, at least.)

Finally, there are a few stars for Rotimi Rainwater's new indie film Truckstop -- Rachel Miner and Mimi Rogers. Mimi, of course, is the ex of Tom Cruise, back in the days before young wives and Scientology buzz, while you might remember Miner from her role as Dani in Californiacation. According to Rainwater's MySpace blog, the film focuses on "a high school student with cerebral palsy who works at a Truckstop and befriends Vicki, the local prostitute." They become friends, overcome obstacles, etc. Unless things have changed since initial contact was made, Miner will play the prostitute.

You know that man who is playing Howie 'The Captain' Archibald, Nate's dad, in Gossip Girl? It's Sam Robards, the son of Jason Robards and Lauren Bacall, the godson of Katharine Hepburn. And now The Hollywood Reporter posts that he has nabbed the spot of Catherine Zeta-Jones' ex. Robards will play her ex-husband in the upcoming romcom The Rebound, which is coming to us from Bart Freundlich.

This is the story of a woman who becomes a divorced, single mom in New York City. With the world of men at her fingertips, she turns her gaze next door, to her much younger 25-year-old neighbor (played by Justin Bartha), and begins to rebound. THR says that "Robards' character is shocked to discover that his ex is romantically involved with a younger man." As would anyone ... I wonder if young men hold the key to Catherine's heart, of it if makes her bounce right back to Robards?

In the meantime, if you're a fan of the actor, you can check him out on Broadway this summer. He's replacing Charles Edwards in 39 Steps.

Here's some Monday nibblets for you:

Alas, like always, I see "Sasha Alexander" and immediately mix her up with Sasha Jenson, the sex fiend from Dazed and Confused. For some reason, I do this every time I see her name. But since it isn't Jenson, let's get back on track. Sasha Alexander, who you might remember from Wasteland or her stint as Gretchen Witter on Dawson's Creek, has picked up an indie gig for herself. Variety reports that she's got a role in Tenure, which stars Luke Wilson and Gretchen Mol as two professors who, well, compete for tenure. But she's also got roles in He's Just Not That Into You and Yes Man, so we should be seeing more of her in the near future.

Meanwhile, Variety reports that Rob Kerkovich, who got to play one of the many partygoers in Cloverfield, is getting a more prominent gig, and one that shouldn't be putting him in monster's way. He's landed a role in Bart Freundlich's The Rebound, which stars Catherine Zeta-Jones and Justin Bartha. (This is that May/December romance flick.) Kerkovich will play a stoner co-worker of Bartha's character. Ah, that sounds like just the sort of company a single mom would want to keep with her new younger boyfriend.

He got the honor of acting in the super-successful, critically acclaimed, award-winning Gigli. (I kid.) Then he got to sink his cinematic teeth into two helpings of National Treasure, and one Failure to Launch. Now Justin Bartha is getting to play the young boyfriend of the one and only Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Variety reports that the actor has signed on to star with Zeta-Jones in The Rebound -- a romantic comedy currently filming in New York City that I first posted about last month when the actress signed on. The film stars Zeta-Jones as a mom in Manhattan who starts to date her neighbor (Bartha), a 25-year-old young man. As I noted then, this seems to be project close to writer/director Bart Freundlich's heart. He just so happens to be Julianne Moore's 9-years-younger husband. Funny enough, that is also the age difference between Bartha and Zeta-Jones, who then, in turn, is 25 years younger than her real-life man, Michael Douglas. It's age gaps all around!

This will mark Freundlich's first written/directed feature without Moore, who has acted in his three other features -- The Myth of Fingerprints, World Traveler, and Trust the Man. How he fares with Zeta-Jones, we'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, both Catherine and Justin have other films on the way, like her Death Defying Acts and his Shoe at Your Foot.