Stephen McKinley Henderson has signed on to lead Anglers, an indie crime drama marking writer-director Zoe Simone’s first feature, Deadline reports exclusively. Production begins in December in Houston, Simone’s hometown.
Henderson is joined by Ra’Mya Latiah Aikens, Bella Samman, Raffi Manjikian, Beau Karnsrithong, Justin Lee Dudo, and Gregg Kearns in the ensemble. Henderson plays a larger-than-life man in the twilight of his career, seeking justice against three internet crusaders after an online sting operation spirals out of control.
It’s not the kind of casting pairing that usually happens for a debut director, and that’s part of what makes it notable. Henderson has built a reputation across decades for choosing projects based on material rather than scale, picking up Tony nominations for Fences and Between Riverside and Crazy alongside film credits in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird, Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester by the Sea, Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, Apple TV’s Devs, and Netflix’s A Man on the Inside opposite Ted Danson. Lending that presence to a brand-new filmmaker’s first project fits a pattern he’s returned to throughout his career.
Simone, a graduate of NYU Tisch’s dramatic writing program, is managed by Jake Weiner of Harvest Hill Entertainment, who also produces Anglers alongside Jamund Washington and Kelley Robins Hicks. The pair previously worked together on the Peabody Award-winning HBO series Random Acts of Flyness and Nana Mensah’s Tribeca prize winner Queen of Glory. Weiner’s résumé also includes Neon’s upcoming They Follow and Warner Bros.’ The End of Oak Street, both from filmmaker David Robert Mitchell.
Henderson hasn’t exactly been slowing down elsewhere this year either. He co-directed and co-produced a documentary on Buffalo’s Humboldt Parkway restoration project, which premiered at the Buffalo International Film Festival in October. He’s also shown up on panels at the NABJ Convention discussing Black theater coverage, headlined the LA Black Creators Summit alongside Dominique Morisseau, and sat down for a public conversation in New York reflecting on his career and his years working with theater legend Lloyd Richards.
With shooting just weeks away, Anglers gives Simone a debut built on original material and backed by one of the more consistently respected character actors working today, a combination that tends to open doors a first feature wouldn’t otherwise have.