Kristin Dodson, Karim Diané, and Kassandra Lee Diaz have joined the cast of Gabourey Sidibe phone sex comedy 1266 from 20th Television and Onyx Collective.
The trio will star as leads opposite Sidibe in the pilot which was ordered by Onyx earlier this year. Additionally, Tisha Campbell, Judy Reyes, and Anna Maria Horsford will recur if the series gets picked up.
Inspired by Sidibe’s true-life story, the series follows Gabby Brixton, who is living at home, making small attempts to become a singer/model and overnight millionaire. After getting fried from from job after job, she stumbles upon the gig of a lifetime ― phone sex. What initially seems like a quick way to make money turns into a life-changing experience when she meets the women who become her chosen family and learns how powerful, profitable and prolific her voice can be.
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Diané will play Posh, who is everyone’s favorite, even if they are constantly trying to figure out if he’s straight or gay. A student at the New York Institute of Fashion, Posh is Gabby’s best friend who doesn’t put up with her B.S. and isn’t afraid to call her out on it. Posh’s brutal honesty is always delivered with love, understanding and some attitude.
Dodson will portray Jimmy, the youngest of the phone sex workers at Imagine Inc. She’s flighty, immature, aimless and ready to make lots of mistakes and have lots of fun while doing it.
Diaz will play Fi, an Afro-Latina queer 20-something, who doesn’t suffer fools and loves lavishing designer threads on her girlfriends. Cynical, mysterious and introverted, she’s a quiet yet fiery woman who keeps her cards close to the chest.
The role of Eula will be played by Horsford. Eula is the mother of Gabby and her sister Wendolyn. She’s feisty and stubborn, using denial as a coping mechanism. She is never shy of sharing her opinions with her girls. A public school teacher, her daughters take after her in many ways, with Gabby having the same artistic and free spirit that Eula has passed on. She’s repped by Steve Lovett of Lovett Management and Steve LaManna of Innovative Artists.
Campbell is attached to play Evelyn, the arrogant, blunt manager at Imagine Inc. According to the description, she “has perfected the nice/nasty delivery but always seems a bit pessimistic. Evelyn’s been at Imagine Inc. forever; and with every year that passes, her hope, passion and dreams turn into tiny, nearly extinguished flames.”
Reyes stars as Kathy. The character is a tenured phone-sex workers at Imagine Inc. and one of its biggest earners. She always has a big smile under eyes that have seen more than she’ll ever tell. Reyes is repped by Buchwald, ATA Management, and Franklin, Weinrib, Rudell & Vassallo LLP.
Sidibe is starring and executive producing with Thembi Banks who is also writing the script as well as directing the pilot. Steven Canals and Julie Bean are also executive producing with Jill Kaplan to serve as a non-writing executive producer. Banks and Bean will be co-showrunners.
Onyx Collective is a content brand under the Disney umbrella. And it is focused on telling stories by Black writers and other underrepresented groups. The brand’s projects stream on Hulu, with legal drama Reasonable Doubt debuting in September. Also in the works: the Kerry Washington and Delroy Lindo comedy Unprisoned (premiering March 10) and the docuseries The 1619 Project (premiering Jan. 26).