Jesse Williams is taking his Broadway role to tv screens.
In June, we reported that the former Grey’s Anatomy star was preparing for a stage performance of the play Take Me Out. In it, Williams plays the lead role of Darren Lemming, a mixed-race star center fielder for a fictional baseball team. Lemming’s decision to come out as gay sparks controversy and the star baseball player must overcome prejudice from teammates and friends. Lemming must then come to terms with the reality of being a gay person of color within a classic American institution.
And now, it seems Williams is following that role and story as both get an adaption for television. According to Deadline, Anonymous Content has picked up the limited television series project. Jesse Williams will return to play the starring role. Meanwhile, the Tony-award winning playwright Richard Greenberg will adapt the script for television. Broadway and television director Scott Ellis (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) will also direct the pilot.
The original stage version of Take Me Out premiered at New York City’s Public Theater in 2002 before going to Broadway. It then got shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize and won the Tony Award for Best Play. The play’s revival was then set to star Williams, as earlier reported. But was unfortunately delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. That said, Williams, with Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Patrick J. Adams, are scheduled to still perform the show at Second Stage’s Helen Hayes Theater in Spring 2022. Now it just seems a tv version will also be available to watch as well. Though, there’s currently no word on a release date.
“I’m incredibly honored by the opportunity to expand on such a profound narrative,” said Williams. “The questions and challenges presented by Richard’s material are critical and seemingly boundless; cutting to the core of ‘masculinity marketing.’ What are we really, if our peace is so easily threatened by the peace of others?”
Source: Deadline,
