‘Elsbeth’: Wendell Pierce & Carra Patterson Join Carrie Preston In CBS’ ‘Good Wife’ Offshoot Pilot
EXCLUSIVE: Wendell Pierce and Carra Patterson have been tapped as leads opposite Carrie Preston in the CBS drama pilot, Elsbeth. This completes the series regular cast for the pilot, from The Good Wife and The Good Fight EPs Robert and Michelle King, which centers on Preston’s character of Elsbeth Tascioni that was introduced on The Good Wife and also appeared on spinoff The Good Fight.
In Elsbeth, whose pilot was written by Robert and Michelle King and will be directed by Robert King, after her successful career in Chicago, Elsbeth Tascioni (Preston), an astute but unconventional attorney, utilizes her singular point of view to make unique observations and corner brilliant criminals alongside the NYPD.
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Pierce plays Captain Wagner, a New York police Captain who owns every room that he enters. Experienced and charismatic, Wagner is the toast of the department.
Patterson plays Officer Kaya Blanke, a stoic, ethical New York police officer who’s used to being overlooked by her superiors.
Both Pierce and Patterson have straddled drama and comedy throughout their careers, which also has been the trademark of the Kings’ work in The Good Wife and The Good Fight, with Elsbeth as one of the franchise’s standout comedic characters.
Always sought after for series, Pierce has just become available, coming off a four-season run on Amazon’s action drama Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan. His resume includes darker dramas such as David Simon’s The Wire and Treme, along with a recent turn on Fox’s anthology Accused, lighter procedurals like Suits as well as comedies like The Odd Couple. On stage, Pierce returned to Broadway last year for a limited engagement to reprise his portrayal of Willy Loman in Death Of a Salesman after receiving a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor in a Play in London for the West End production. He is repped by Paradigm Talent Agency and Essential Talent Management.
Patterson was most recently a series regular on the Disney+ action-comedy series Turner & Hooch and guest starred on the Kings’ Paramount+ drama series Evil. She’ll next be seen playing Coretta Scott King in the upcoming Higher Ground/Netflix feature film Rustin, directed by George C. Wolfe, opposite Colman Domingo, Chris Rock & Audra McDonald and in the current season of the Apple+ drama series Servant. She is repped by Innovative Artists, Robyn Bluestone Management and Meyer & Downs.
Robert and Michelle King executive produce Elsbeth with Liz Glotzer for CBS Studios.
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