The cast of Boots Riley’s upcoming Amazon series I’m a Virgo, which is led by Jharrel Jerome, has added six to its cast.
Brett Gray, Kara Young, Allius Barnes, and Olivia Washington join I’m a Virgo as series regulars with Mike Epps and Carmen Ejogo set to recur.
“Our cast is hard as hell. Our cast slaps everyone else’s cast around on the playground. Sorry. I’ve spoken with the principal about this and there’s nothing more I can do,” Riley said about assembling the principal cast of the show.
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Last year Amazon gave straight-to-series order for the half-hour coming-of-age joyride series, I’m a Virgo. Riley created, wrote and directed the coming-of-age series about Cootie (Jerome), a 13-foot-tall Black man who lives in Oakland, Calif.
Official character descriptions have yet to be released by Gray is rumored to play Cootie’s best friend Felix and Young will play Jones, a community organizer. Barnes is said to play Scat, who grew up with Felix and Cootie in Oakland, California. Washington plays Flora, an aspiring cook. Epps plays Martisse; Ejogo plays Lafrancine.
Michael Ellenberg’s Media Res will serve as the studio on the show alongside Amazon. Riley, Ellenberg, Jerome and Tze Chun will exec produce the half-hour series. Tze Chun also serves as co-showrunner.
“’I’m A Virgo’ is refreshingly original and there’s nothing else like it on television,” said Albert Cheng, COO and co-head of television for Amazon Studios. “No one is quite like Boots, and we’re so excited to be working with him and Jharrel on this fantastical, funny, and utterly unique new series. We can’t wait for our Prime Video customers to see it.”
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I’m a Virgo joins a roster of Amazon originals including the forthcoming The Lord of the Rings and A League of Their Own update.
Riley’s first feature, “Sorry to Bother You,” was a critical smash when it debuted in 2018 at the Sundance Film Festival, earning a nomination for the Grand Jury Prize. He is best known for his two-decade run as leader of The Coup, a radical funk/punk/hip-hop band, where he penned six albums, including receiving pop album of the year by The Washington Post and the Associated Press, and hip hop album of the year by Rolling Stone.