Development News - July 8, 2020
FOX's Blood Relative.
FOX's BLOOD RELATIVE
- Dascha Polanco, Tracie Thoms and Sarah Catherine Hook have been cast on the drama pilot starring Melissa Leo and Tate Donovan. Polanco starred for seven seasons in Netflix's Orange Is the New Black. Thoms starred in the first season of AppleTV+'s Truth Be Told and has recurred on FOX's 9-1-1. Hook stars in the upcoming film The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It.
- Polanco will play Maria Alvarez. She is making lemonade out of lemons. She and her hearing-impaired son Sam live with her home psychic mother while Maria goes to night school to get her Ph.D in psychology. She will eventually work at the same parish precinct as John (Donovan) and Brick (Tyrone Marshall Brown). Her reason for wanting to work with cops? She's spent her entire life in their world. Twenty years ago, her father Diego was convicted of murder. She is stunned to learn that the police have discovered the body of Gary Northrup - the very man her father is accused of killing. Lou's (Leo) DNA genius might prove her father's innocence. Maria's life will be changed by this new science and this unique woman. She will also prove to be one of the only people alive who speaks "Lou," making her an invaluable asset.
- Thoms will play Lieutenant Hannah Dixon, John and Brick's boss. The first woman to hold the position in this parish, she is firm but fair and has zero interest in her squad playing guinea pig or testing the 4th Amendment so that Lou can dig through victims' DNA. But Dixon is a woman at a precarious time in her life. Recently diagnosed with breast cancer, she is struggling to balance the job she's fought for with the fight of her life. She and Lou will become reluctant confidants and their friendship will have a deep and unexpected impact on them both.
- Hook will play Ashley Kelly, John and Rebecca Kelly's 16-year-old daughter. Social, wicked funny, an A student on the fencing team, she appears to be yet another Gen Z eye-rolling, selfie-taking, screen obsessive. But don't let the packaging fool you. Ashley is off-the-charts smart, not unlike her Aunt Lou. She "speaks" social media. She can deep dive into Snapchat and Facebook to find anyone the way that Lou can trace back a family tree. Once Lou learns what's going on inside Ashley's mind, she recruits Ashley to help in the search for the John Doe in the pilot. This is just the beginning of a beautiful working relationship.
