Ava Duvernay announces more additions to the cast of Netflix special, ‘Central Park 5’

Director Ava DuVernay released information about her new project, Central Park Five. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images)

Director Ava DuVernay released information about her new project, Central Park Five. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images)

Netflix’s upcoming Central Park 5 limited series has officially added three more actors to its cast!

Wednesday, director Ava DuVernay announced that actors Felicity Huffman, Jharrel Jerome, and Jovan Adepo have all signed on to the four-episode series, which will be both written and directed by her. The actors join previously confirmed cast members Michael K. Williams, Vera Farmiga, and John Leguizamo.

“Thrilled to announce our growing family of actors for ,” DuVernay tweeted to her two million followers. “A warm welcome to the great Felicity Huffman, who I’ve wanted to work with for a long time. And two of the brightest young actors doing it: Jovan Adepo of FENCES + Jharrel Jerome of MOONLIGHT.

Based on a now infamous true story, Central Park Five will chronicle the case of five teenagers of color who were convicted of a rape they did not commit.

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Huffman will play prosecutor Linda Fairstein, who headed the Manhattan district attorney’s sex crimes office during the case. Jerome will play Korey Wise, one of the wrongfully convicted teens who was charged as an adult and served 12 years in prison before being exonerated. Adepo will play Antron McCray, another member of the wrongfully convicted group of teenagers. McCray was released after serving six years in a New York State prison.

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https://twitter.com/ava/status/1022199666904125440

The series will span from the spring of 1989, when the boys were first questioned about the incident, to 2014 when they were exonerated and reached a settlement with the City of New York.

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Jeff Skoll and Jonathan King from Participant Media, Oprah Winfrey/Harpo Films, Jane Rosenthal and Berry Welsh from Tribeca Productions and DuVernay will all executive produce.

The series is set to premiere on Netflix in 2019.

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