For the third time this week, another Black actress has gotten tabbed to star in an upcoming television pilot. Phylicia Rashad will play a gay black woman in a new pilot directed by Black Reel Award winner, Ava DuVernay for CBS.
In For Justice, The Cosby Show mom will play Georgina Howe, a savvy Washington player who has faced discrimination for her race and sexual orientation, and fights to protect the independence and integrity of her high profile Civil Rights Division.
The project, based on James Patterson’s novel The Thomas Berryman Number, follows a female FBI agent (Rashad) working in the Criminal Section of the Department of Civil Rights Division who finds herself caught between her radical real family and her professional family.
Written by Law & Order vet Rene Balcer, she will also serve as executive producer, alongside DuVernay, Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, Patterson, Bill Robinson and Leopoldo Gout. Berry Welsh will co-exec produce.
The announcement of Rashad’s pilot is the third this week featuring Black actresses. Both Paula Patton (Runner) and Aunjunae Ellis (Quantico) will also be starring in new shows this fall.