‘Accused’: Billy Porter to Direct Episode of Fox Anthology Drama
Billy Porter wears many (fabulous) hats. The latest: director. The Emmy-winning POSE star will direct an episode of Fox‘s anthology drama Accused, the network announced Thursday, March 31.
Based on BBC’s BAFTA-winning crime anthology, Accused has a different cast each episode. Porter’s will focus “on a fierce drag queen and a whirlwind affair that leads to devastating consequences,” according to Fox.
Whitney Cummings will play “an acerbic female stand-up comic” in one of the episodes. Michael Chiklis will star in the premiere. And CODA star Marlee Matlin will make her directorial debut on one of the installments.
Each episode of Accused “opens in a courtroom on the accused, with viewers knowing nothing about their crime or how they ended up on trial,” the series description says. “Told from the defendant’s point of view through flashbacks, Accused holds a mirror up to the current times with evocative and emotional stories. In Accused, viewers discover how an ordinary person gets caught up in an extraordinary situation, ultimately revealing how one wrong turn leads to another, until it’s too late to turn back.”
Porter is an Emmy, Grammy, and Tony-winning actor who made history as the first openly gay Black man to win Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. He won for POSE and was nominated for his performance for all three seasons.
Accused is developed and executive produced by Howard Gordon (24, Homeland). Alex Gansa (24, Homeland) and David Shore (The Good Doctor, House) will also executive produce. Sony Pictures Television co-produces the series with Fox.
Accused is also executive produced by Glenn Geller, Erin Gunn, All3Media America’s Jacob Cohen-Holmes, and Jimmy McGovern, Sita Williams, Roxy Spencer and Louise Pedersen for All3Media International, Frank Siracusa, and John Weber. The series was created by Jimmy McGovern, and the original series debuted in 2010 on BBC One.
Accused, Series Premiere, TBA, Fox
