The additions round out a Southeast Texas set world that’s shaping up to be Starz’s next major bet on premium Black storytelling, following the lane P-Valley carved out.
Starz isn’t just building a show, it’s building a world. The network’s still-untitled Black rodeo drama has added five actors in recurring roles: John Gabriel Rodriguez, SteVonté Hart, Gabrielle Byndloss, Samuel-Taylor, and Aaron Smalls.
Set in Southeast Texas, the series leans into territory Starz has been quietly claiming as its own: stories where Black Southern life isn’t a backdrop, it’s the whole engine. Described by the network as infused with hip hop swagger and country soul, the show centers on three siblings navigating the legacy their mother built and the mess their father left behind, all while rodeo culture, family loyalty, and ambition pull everyone into each other’s business.
These five join a previously announced roster:
- DeWanda Wise as Anaya Clarke-Reagan, the politically ambitious Clarke firstborn hiding darker instincts behind a polished public image
- Shannon Wallace as Sebastian Clarke, a former bull-riding champion turned rodeo empire builder whose risk-taking might undo everything he’s built
- Tian Richards as Rodney Clarke, Sebastian and Anaya’s openly gay younger brother whose attempt to outrun his past gets violently interrupted
- Jason Dirden as Greg Reagan, Anaya’s judge husband with more buried underneath his charm than it first appears.
- Lauren E. Banks as Wynter, Sebastian’s ex-wife finally asking what she wants outside the family she’s spent her adult life orbiting
- Curtiss Cook as Elias Clarke, the estranged father working to earn back trust after prison
- Marcus Emanuel Mitchell as Julius Calhoun, Trinity City’s most decorated bull rider chasing a bigger stage
- Liv Symone as Jojo Calhoun, Julius’s sister and a barrel racer with her sights set on music stardom
Rodriguez steps in as Francisco Morales, CEO of Morales Timber Company, a family business with a respectable front and shadier roots underneath. He’s polished, calculating, and slow to anger, which in television terms usually means the anger, when it finally arrives, is worth waiting for.
Hart plays Langston, a rodeo clown by day and bartender by night at the Likka Lounge, who happens to also be a gifted musician quietly positioned to change the trajectory of aspiring rapper Jojo’s career. Byndloss joins as Crystal, a local radio personality who doubles as the rodeo’s DJ and announcer, putting her in regular orbit with Sebastian. Samuel-Taylor plays Ivan Robinson, a top bull rider chasing a spot in the National Bull Riding League Team Series while managing a groin injury and the self-medication that comes with it, a storyline that puts him in direct competition with Julius and Playboy Ray. Smalls rounds out the additions as Hakeem, the owner of Boots & Lace and the complicated on-again, off-again situation in Rodney’s life.
Kirk A. Moore, known for Demascus and American Crime, created the series and serves as showrunner and executive producer. He’s joined by Mark Johnson and Myki Bajaj of Gran Via Productions, along with Tony Hernandez, Elise Henderson, and Lilly Burns of Counterpart Studios. Giovanna Desselle, VP of Original Programming, and Christina Jokanovich, SVP of Original Programming, oversee the series for Starz.
The eight-episode, one-hour series is set to begin production in Atlanta later this month, marking the second fully owned scripted series Starz has ordered since splitting from Lionsgate in 2025. Paired with P-Valley, it signals something bigger than a single show: Starz is deliberately carving out a lane for premium drama rooted in Black Southern culture, and betting that audiences who’ve been underserved by prestige TV for decades are more than ready for it.