During the premium cable network's presentation at the Television Critics Association's summer press tour, Showtime assembled the full cast for its upcoming original limited series The Good Lord Bird starring Ethan Hawke. Moreover, the network announced an early 2020 premiere date for the series.
The eight-part limited series will premiere on Sunday, February 16 at 10/9c.
The series is told from the point of view of Onion (Joshua Johnson-Lionel), a fictional enslaved boy, who is part of John Brown's (Hawke) motley crew of abolitionist soldiers during the time of Bleeding Kansas, eventually participating in the famous 1859 raid on the Army depot at Harpers Ferry. Brown's raid failed to initiate the slave revolt he intended, but was the instigating event that started the Civil War.
Joining the cast are Daveed Diggs (Hamilton) as Frederick Douglass; Wyatt Russell (Lodge 49) as Jeb Stuart; David Morse (Escape at Dannemora) as Dutch Henry Sherman; Steve Zahn (Valley of the Boom) as Chase; Orlando Jones (American Gods) as The Rail Man; and Ellar Coltrane (Boyhood) as Salmon Brown.
Mo Brings Plenty, Jack Alcott, Nick Eversman, Hubert Point-Du Jour and Beau Knapp will also star.
Hawke and Mark Richard wrote the premiere, with Richard serving as showrunner. They will executive produce with James McBride, Jason Blum, Brian Taylor, Ryan Hawke, David Schiff, Jeremy Gold, Marci Wiseman, Marshall Persinger and director Albert Hughes.
Hughes will make his television directorial debut helming multiple episodes of the series. Additional directors include Kevin Hooks, Darnell Martin and Haifaa Al Mansour.
