Right as production is set to begin in Boston, Apple’s upcoming limited series Defending Jacob has rounded out its all-star ensemble cast of series regular roles with the additions off The Handmaid’s Tale‘s Cherry Jones, American Gods‘ Pablo Schreiber, Timeless‘ Sakina Jaffrey and Get Out‘s Betty Gabriel, according to Deadline.
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Defending Jacob is described as a a gripping, character-driven thriller based on Landay’s 2012 novel published by Random House. The book tells the story of a father dealing with the accusation that his son is a 14-year-old murderer.
Written by Mark Bomback (Planet of the Apes) from Landay’s best-selling novel, the limited series will be produced by Paramount Television and Anonymous Content. The Imitation Game director Morten Tyldum will direct the series and executive produce alongside Evans.
Warner Bros. originally planned to adapt Defending Jacob into a feature film back in 2012, but nothing ever materialized.
The four stars join the previously cast Michelle Dockery, most-known for her role in the acclaimed PBS period drama Downton Abbey, and Jaeden Martell, who found stardom in the 2014 dramedy St. Vincent and the 2016 sci-fi thriller Midnight Special and found his breakout lead role in the acclaimed 2017 adaptation of the Stephen King novel IT, for which he will reprise his role in the sequel that is set to hit theaters on September 6.
Jones is well-known for her work on the small screen, having earned an Emmy for her performance on the Kiefer Sutherland-led Fox espionage action series 24 while also having starred in the short-lived fantasy police drama Awake, the Amazon Studios comedy Transparent and The Handmaid’s Tale, for which she was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama.
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After years of starring in recurring roles and in short-lived series, Schreiber found his breakout role in the Netflix dramedy Orange is the New Black, for which he was nominated for an Emmy for Oustanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, followed by lead roles in the short-lived NBC remake of Ironside, the HBO comedy The Brink and the hit Starz adaptation of the Neil Gaiman novel, American Gods.
Gabriel has found a niche for herself starring in numerous Blumhouse Productions films beginning with 2016’s The Purge: Election Year and following it up with a key role in the acclaimed 2017 Jordan Peele thriller Get Out, 2018’s horror-thriller Unfriended: Dark Web and the Leigh Whannell written and directed action-thriller Upgrade, a recurring role in the second season of HBO’s acclaimed adaptation of the Michael Crichton sci-fi epic Westworld and CBS All Access’ revival of the classic horror anthology series The Twilight Zone.
After featuring in the hit NBC crime drama Third Watch, Jaffrey would go on to star in the hit Netflix political drama House of Cards, for which she was nominated for a SAG award for Outstanding Ensemble, the Fox supernatural procedural Sleepy Hollow, the USA Network thriller Mr. Robot and the NBC time-travelling action series Timeless.
