Oscar winners Natalie Portman and Lupita Nyong’o are starring together in a limited series on Apple TV +. The developing series is based on Laura Lippman’s book ‘Lady In The Lake’ of the same name.
‘Honey Boy’ film director, Har’el will direct and also co-write alongside ‘Colony and The Man In The High Castle’ writer Dre Ryan. Har’el will pen the pilot episode.
The limited series takes place in 60s Baltimore, where an unsolved murder pushes housewife and mother, Maddie Schwartz, played by Portman, to reinvent her life as an investigative journalist and sets her on a collision course with Cleo Sherwood, played by Nyong’o, a hard-working woman juggling motherhood, many jobs and a passionate commitment to advancing Baltimore’s Black progressive agenda.
Nyong’o and Portman are part of the tall list of executive producers attached to the project. Har’el, Ryan, Christopher Leggett, Sophie Mas, who is Portman’s producing partner, Jean-Marc Vallée and Nathan Ross of Crazyrose, Bad Wolf America’s Julie Gardner and author Lippman, will all executive produce.
The project marks Portman’s first television role and Nyong’o’s first major role on the small screen. The latter appeared in the first season of MTV Base ‘Shuga’, which aired on November 11, 2009.
Nyong’o was also attached to star and executive produce the 10 episodes drama ‘Americanah’, based on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel of the same name for HBO Max. Production for the series was meant to start early last year, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was scrapped off the table after scheduling dates became a challenge.
Portman, who is a two-time Golden Globe winner will next be seen in ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’, set to be released in theatres next year. She is repped by CAA and the Law Offices of George Sheanshang, Nyong’o is repped by CAA, Mainstay Entertainment and Del, Shaw, Moonves, et al.
