Rachel Griffiths, Mary-Louise Parker
and Guy Pearce are set for lead roles in ABC's upcoming miniseries
about the gay rights movement.
The eight-hour miniseries, titled When
We Rise, has been in development at ABC for more than two years.
According to Deadline
Hollywood, Pearce (The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of
the Desert, LA Confidential) will play activist Cleve Jones,
while Parker (Weeds, Angels in America) has been cast to play
Roma Guy, a leader of the womens rights movement. Guy's wife,
activist Diane, will be portrayed by Griffiths (Brothers &
Sisters, Six Feet Under).
(Related: Carrie
Preston to star in gay rights miniseries When
We Rise.)
The project reunites the team behind
the 2008 film Milk: Director Gus Van Sant, writer Dustin Lance
Black and producer Bruce Cohen. Milk's subject was Harvey
Milk, an LGBT rights activist and politician who was gunned down
inside San Francisco City Hall. Van Sant is set to direct the first
two-hour episode of When We Rise and will co-produce the
series with Black, Cohen and Laurence Mark.