Orphan Black star Tatiana Maslany has signed on for a starring role in HBO’s Perry Mason. The limited series, which scored a formal green-light from the premium cable network in late March, stars Matthew Rhys (The Americans) in the titular role.
Per Deadline, Maslany will play Sister Alice, the leader of the Radiant Assembly of God, preaching three sermons a day to a hungry congregation and a radio audience that spans the country. Sister Alice wields great power when she speaks, and plans to use it in ways only she can know.
Perry Mason is set in 1932, Los Angeles. While the rest of the country recovers from the Great Depression, this city is booming! Oil! Olympic Games! Talking Pictures! Evangelical Fervor! And a child kidnapping gone very, very wrong! When the case of the decade breaks down his door, Mason’s (Rhys) relentless pursuit of the truth reveals a fractured city and just maybe, a pathway to redemption for himself.
The limited series is based on the characters created by Erle Stanley Gardner and is set up at Robert Downey Jr’s Team Downey. Matthew Rhys is a producer. Robert Downey Jr, Susan Downey, Amanda Burrell, Rolin Jones, Ron Fitzgerald, Joe Horacek and Tim Van Patten are the executive producers. Rolin Jones and Ron Fitzgerald will serve as showrunners. Sky Atlantic will air the series in the UK thanks to their output deal with HBO.
