‘Queer as Folk’ Reboot From Peacock Adds ‘Big Sky’ Star Jesse James Keitel (EXCLUSIVE)

Peacock’s “Queer as Folk” reboot has added Jesse James Keitel as a series regular.

The update is based on the landmark 1999 series from Russell T. Davis and is said to chronicle a diverse group of friends in New Orleans, whose lives are transformed in the aftermath of a tragedy. Keitel will play a trans, semi-reformed party girl who is struggling to grow up.

The series is created, written and executive produced by Stephen Dunn, who will also direct the pilot episode. Universal Content Productions is producing the straight-to-series order for Peacock.

Keitel is trailblazer as one of the few out trans non-binary stars working in television, particularly in the primetime network space where she broke out on the David E. Kelley ABC drama “Big Sky.” There she played Jerrie Kennedy, a woman kidnapped in a human trafficking plot. Her additional credits include the Showtime original film “Fluidity” and the Netflix original “Alex Strangelove.” She is represented Authentic Talent and Literary Management, INSURGE-Ent and Initiative PR.

Production on the reboot is set to commence this fall in New Orleans. The original “Queer as Folk” aired on the UK’s Channel 4 and followed the lives of three British clubgoing gay men in 1999. Showtime adapted the series a year later, which ran for five seasons to culture-defining effect.

Original creator Davies is on board the new project as an executive producer. Additional executive producers include Lee Eisenberg, Emily Brecht, Nicola Shindler, and Richard Halliwell on behalf of NENT Studios UK, which distributes the format..

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