Deadline reports that Kevin Hart (Central Intelligence, Get Hard), who is also the executive producer of Peacock‘s upcoming limited series Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist, has added Rockmond Dunbar (The Family That Preys, Prison Break) to the recurring cast. This is Dunbar’s first acting role since he was fired from 9-1-1 in 2021 for refusing to comply with the studio’s requirement that he get a Covid vaccination after his requests for religious and medical exemptions were turned down. Following the firing, the actor sued Disney for $1 million, and the matter is currently on trial.
As Deadline notes, Fight Night tells the story Muhammed Ali, specifically the night before his 1970 comeback fight. On this night, an armed robbery changed the trajectory of his life and the entire city’s.
According to Deadline, Dunbar will portray Uncle Willie, an autobody shop owner whose primary responsibility is to serve as the neighborhood’s top fence. Alongside Hart, Terrence Howard (Empire, Hustle & Flow), and Samuel L. Jackson (Captain Marvel, The Hitman’s Bodyguard), Dunbar becomes a part of the ensemble cast.
Shaye Ogbonna (Lowlife, God’s Country) is the creator and writer of Fight Night, a drama set in Atlanta that is based on the same-titled podcast from iHeartPodcasts, Doghouse Pictures, and Will Packer Media. Showrunners Ogbonna and Jason Horwitch (Luke Cage, Echo 3) also exec produce alongside Hart, Mike Stein (Die Hart, True Story), Bryan Smiley (Junior, Lift) for Hart’s Hartbeat, Will Packer (Girl’s Trip, Beast) Media’s Packer and Sabrina Wind (Desperate Housewives, Devious Maids), iHeartPodcasts’ Conal Byrne (The Vault, The Blood Bond), Will Pearson (Ordained, Happy Face), and Carrie Lieberman, Jeff Keating (Pee Wee Gaskins Was Not My Friend), and Lars Jacobson (Day Of The Dead: Bloodline). Kenny Burns (Lola 2) of Studio 43 and Tiffany Brown (The Gnome, Second First Date) of Hartbeat will co-executive produce. A branch of Universal Studio Group, Universal Television is the source of the television show.
Dunbar, who played Michael Grant for over four years until his abrupt departure from the show a few episodes into season five, was a series regular on 9-1-1, according to Deadline. From that time on, he starred in the film Red Winter and a previous episode of The Game. Mainstay Entertainment and Greene Talent are the actor’s representatives.