Daveed Diggs is about to be very busy on your TV screen. The Hamilton breakout electrified the indie circuit last year with Blindspotting, a racially-charged drama that used spoken word to highlight issues of police brutality and gentrification. Now, with Diggs also set to star in a Snowpiercer TV series, he’s also set to write a new Blindspotting series for Starz.
Variety reports that a Blindspotting series is in the works, penned by Diggs and longtime friend Rafael Casal, who co-starred in the movie. As of now, neither is set to reprise their roles as best friends Collin and Miles, respectively. Instead, the series will star Jasmine Cephas Jones, returning to play Ashley, Miles’ wife and mother to his son.
In the movie, Miles’ increasingly reckless behavior finds him bringing a gun into their home, which is then found by their son. She kicks him out of the house at that point. The series picks up with Miles being arrested, and Ashley forced to change her life around as a result.
Here’s the synopsis:
It centers on Ashley (Jones), who was nipping at the heels of a middle class life in Oakland until Miles, her partner of 12 years and father of their son, is suddenly incarcerated, leaving her to navigate a chaotic and humorous existential crisis when she’s forced to move in with Miles’ mother and half-sister. Her world is turned upside down while the neighborhood goes inside out, and she must renegotiate her relationship with a town that is caught between two conflicting identities.
While Diggs and Casal are on board to write and exec-produce, neither is confirmed to play a role. That said, It seems likely we’ll see Casal as a recurring figure, while Diggs will be busy fighting the future in Snowpiercer. At the end of Blindspotting, Miles and Collin’s relationship had soured and the latter seemed headed out of Oakland. I don’t put it past Diggs to show up as a special guest at some point, though.
Blindspotting makes a lot of sense as an urban drama series, too, one that can tackle current issues on a regular basis and remain timely. Jones, another Hamilton alum, is an incredible talent and deserving of her chance in the spotlight.
