Orange is The New Black’s Uzo Aduba (In Treatment, Miss Virginia) has signed a new production deal. According to Deadline, the Mrs. America actress has penned a multi-year production deal with CBS Studios. Under this new pact, she will develop and produce original content for the studio. One of those new projects is the drama series, Low Country, in which Aduba is set to star as the lead.
According to Deadline, Aduba will portray Shirley Johnson, a black and openly gay woman who serves as the new deputy sheriff in a South Carolina town. Belonging to two marginalized communities, Johnson is used to exceeding others’ expectations of her. Her greatest feat is yet to come as she places her crosshairs of justice on the town’s wealthiest white crime family. The series, written by Dewayne Jones (The Following, Your Honor) is being produced by Robert and Michelle King (The Good Wife, BrainDead). It is currently being shopped to premium cable and streaming networks.
Aduba, the Kings, and Jones all serve as executive producers, via Deadline. Liz Glotzer (Bernie, The Mist) will also produce through King Size Prods, a company based within CBS Studios.
Robert and Michelle King have had great success with prior dramas for both CBS and its streaming platform CBS All Access, which will rebrand as Paramount+ on March 4. The writing pair are most known for the legal drama, The Good Wife, which starred Julianna Margulies (ER, The Hot Zone). The series spawned The Good Fight, a spinoff starring Christine Baranski (Mamma Mia, Cybill) currently in its fifth season. The Kings currently wrapped season two production of their supernatural drama series, Evil, which stars Katja Herbers (Westworld, Manhattan), Mike Colter (Luke Cage, Seis Manos), and Aasif Mandvi (Million Dollar Arm, The Internship).
Aduba is currently filming HBO’s In Treatment in which she will lead. The rebooted series follows psychiatrist, played by Aduba, and her fellow patients through their therapy sessions. It originally ran on HBO in 2008 for three seasons. It is set for a May release. The three-time Emmy winner is also starring opposite Morgan Freeman (Kiss the Girls, Lean on Me), Anne Hathway (The Dark Knight Rises, Locked Down), and more in Amazon’s anthology series, Solos.