Ava DuVernay has found the lead actors for Central Park Five, her upcoming Netflix series about five Harlem teenagers of color convicted of a rape they did not commit.
The four-episode drama will star Michael K. Williams, Vera Farmiga and John Leguizamo, TheWrap reported Monday.
The series will focus on the five teenagers — Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise — at the center of the infamous case surrounding the 1989 rape and sodomy of a white female jogger in the New York City park.
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The series will go from 1989, when the teens were first questioned, to 2014 when they were exonerated and reached a reported $40 million settlement with the city of New York. In 2002, convicted murderer and serial rapist Matias Reyes confessed to the crime, and DNA evidence later confirmed his guilt.
The Wire alum Williams will play Bobby McCray, father of accused teen Antron McCray. Leguizamo (Bloodline) has been cast as Raymond Santana Sr., father of Raymond Santana Jr., and Farmiga (Bates Motel) will play the Manhattan Assistant District Attorney and lead prosecutor on the case.
DuVernay will executive produce, write and direct the series, which is slated to begin streaming on Netflix in 2019.
