Viola Davis is heading into the high-stakes world of corporate crisis management for the upcoming Paramount+ thriller series Ascent.
The EGOT winner has signed on to executive produce and lead the cast of the series, the streaming service said in a press release Tuesday, Aug. 4.
Davis will play Catriona Vail, a corporate fixer who handles damage control for billion-dollar clients around the world. When her estranged daughter finds herself in danger, Vail is forced to use the same ruthless skills that made her one of the best in the business.
Oscar-nominated writer John Logan (Skyfall and Gladiator) created Ascent. Logan will serve as showrunner and executive producer alongside Michael Aguilar (Penny Dreadful and The Departed).
Davis and her husband, Julius Tennon, will co-executive produce through their JuVee Productions.
“I am overwhelmingly excited about this journey with the great John Logan. We won the lottery with this one!” the actress said in a statement. “Work in which both story and character are bold, awe-inspiring and deeply unique is why I became an artist.”
David added, “We are ready to create magic!”
Produced by Paramount Television Studios, the series is scheduled to begin production in 2027 and will film in Los Angeles.
“We celebrate bold, original ideas, and the icing on the cake is being able to shoot Ascent here at home on the Paramount Lot in Los Angeles,” said Matt Thunell, president of Paramount Television Studios.
Jane Wiseman, head of originals for Paramount+, praised Davis as the ideal actress to lead the series.
“Viola Davis doesn’t just take on roles, she transforms them. Catriona Vail is an incredibly complex character and Viola is exactly the generational talent to bring her to life,” said Wiseman. “With John Logan and Michael Aguilar behind the camera, Ascent is high-stakes television at its best.”
A release date and additional casting details have not yet been announced.
Davis previously starred on ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder. She won an Emmy Award for outstanding lead actress in a drama series in 2015 for her performance as law professor Annalise Keating in the Shonda Rhimes-produced drama.
The actress grew up in Rhode Island. She studied theater at Rhode Island College and later graduated from Juilliard.
She received a Tony Award for her performance in Fences, and took home an Oscar for her role in the film adaptation of the August Wilson play, directed by Denzel Washington. Davis also won a Grammy Award for narrating her 2022 memoir Finding Me.
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