Director, writer, producer, and overall filmmaking powerhouse Ava DuVernay is assembling quite a cast for her Netflix series “Central Park Five.” Based on the true events of five black teens who were wrongfully imprisoned for the rape of a white woman in New York City’s Central Park, DuVernay is adapting the story into a limited series in partnership with streaming giant Netflix.
Over the course of the last few weeks, casting announcements have been made for the filmmaker’s latest venture. Now, according to Deadline, DuVernay has added actors Felicity Huffman, Jharrel Jerome, and Jovan Adepo. Huffman has had a recurring role in the anthology series “American Crime” and will be playing Linda Fairstein, the prosecutor who headed the Manhattan district attorney’s sex crimes office during the case. Jerome and Adepo were more notably seen in Oscar-winning films “Moonlight” and “Fences.” Thus far, Adepo and Jerome have been announced to play two of the five convicted teens. Jerome has been cast as Korey Wise, with Adepo cast as Antron McCray, respectively.
“Central Park Five” will span a time form of over 20 years. The series will begin in the spring of 1989, when each young man was first questioned about the incident. There will then be a jump to 2014 when they were exonerated and a settlement was reached with the city of New York. The series will premiere on Netflix in 2019, 30 years after the incident.
The recent additions will join previously announced cast members Michael K. Williams, Vera Farmiga, and John Leguizamo. DuVernay is set to write and direct all four episodes of the limited series. A documentary of the same name was made in 2012 and directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, and David McMahon. With DuVernay behind the camera, the filmmaker will undoubtedly imbue nuance and intimacy to a story that gripped the nation. Her rending will, without question, grip audiences in 2019.