American Son Adaptation, Starring Kerry Washington and Broadway Cast, Coming to Netflix
Photo by Roy Richlin/GettyNetflix announced on Monday (Jan. 21) its exclusive launch of the 2018 play American Son by Christopher Demos-Brown. The Broadway cast includes Kerry Washington, Steven Pasquale, Jeremy Jordan and Eugene Lee, all of whom will return to their roles in the onscreen adaptation.
Netflix describes the story in its announcement as following “interracial parents who reunite in a Florida police station to search for answers about their missing teenage son.”
According to THR, the play will be filmed sans audience, rather than taping a performance before American Son’s run ends on Jan. 27. Production kicks off in New York City in February. Tony Award winner Kenny Leon, who directed the play, is set to direct and produce. Other producers include Jeffrey Richards and Rebecca Gold. Washington and Pilar Savone (producer on Django Unchained and Washington’s forthcoming project Little Fires Everywhere) are producing as well, under the Scandal star’s company Simpson Street.
Pasquale was recently seen as Mark Fuhrman on The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story and Johnny Elfman on The Good Wife. Fans of Supergirl will recognize Jordan as Winslow “Winn” Schott, Jr. Playwright Lee boasts a number of theater credits and TV stints on everything from Frasier to NYPD Blue.
Cindy Holland, Netflix’s Vice President of Original Content, said of the project, “American Son powerfully explores themes of family, love and identity. We are honored to work with Kerry Washington, Kenny Leon, Christopher Demos-Brown and the entire cast to bring this story from the Broadway stage to our members around the world.”
This production joins a number of other onstage projects that have been featured on Netflix, including Newsies: The Broadway Musical and Shrek: The Musical.