Following lengthy negotiations, Oscar winners Helen Hunt and Richard Dreyfuss and True Blood alum Stephen Moyer have been set for lead roles in Shots Fired, Fox‘s drama series from Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Rock Bythewood that examines the dangerous aftermath of racially charged shootings in a small town in North Carolina. Hunt, who has signed a one-season deal, will portray Patricia Eamons, the fictional governor of North Carolina. Dreyfuss will play Arlen Cox, a real estate mogul and owner of a privatized prison who is intricately involved in the shootings. Moyer will play Officer Breeland, a seasoned veteran in the town’s Sheriff’s Department, who gets caught in the middle of the investigation.
The trio joins previously cast Sanaa Lathan, who stars as an expert investigator who digs into the cases, alongside Stephan James as a special prosecutor sent to the town by the Department of Justice. The pair are drawn into political intrigue when they find their investigation manipulated by the politically fierce Governor Eamons (Hunt), who prides herself on not being a typical politician. As the first female and Democrat governor in the state, she is in a tough re-election fight, and the national media attention on the recent shootings in her state is making it tougher.
Also featured in the series, slated to debut later this year, are Aisha Hinds and Tristan Wilds. 20th TV and Imagine TV are producing.
Hunt, who recently directed the penultimate episode in the upcoming season of Showtime’s House of Lies, is repped by CAA. Dreyfuss, repped by APA, recently starred as disgraced financier Bernie Madoff in ABC’s miniseries Madoff. Moyer, repped by WME, Luber Roklin Entertainment and attorney Dave Feldman, recently co-starred on the FX drama The Bastard Executioner.
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