'Blindspotting' TV Show Finds Its Cast; Rafael Casal Reprising His Role From The Movie

The gentrification-themed comedy/drama Blindspotting was one of the best movies of 2018, and it's been more than a year since we heard that a TV spin-off was in the works at Starz. Now the cast for the Blindspotting TV show has been locked in. We already knew the series would focus on Jasmine Cephas Jones' Ashley character from the movie, but now we know that Rafael Casal, who co-wrote and co-starred in the film, will be serving as the showrunner and will also reprise his role as Miles in a recurring capacity.

Variety reports that Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal, who wrote and starred in the movie, are returning to write and executive produce the series, with Casal not only taking the reins as showrunner, but also getting behind the camera to direct an episode of the new series. (Carlos López Estrada directed the film, but does not appear to be involved with this spin-off.)

"Diggs and I are thrilled to continue our partnership with Lionsgate by expanding the Blindspotting world as a series on Starz," Casal said in a statement. "This story, the incredible cast and the production are a dream. We are making the kind of show we have long hoped to see on television, centered around just some of the amazing kinds of characters the Bay Area has to offer." In a statement of his own, Diggs said that the show will ultimately be "about how a broken prison system affects all of us and, like the film, we're using comedy to talk about very real systemic effects in the country with the largest prison population in the world."

Jasmine Cephas Jones (Hamilton, #FreeRayShawn) is playing Ashley, "a woman who is nipping at the heels of a middle-class life in Oakland until Miles, her partner of 12 years and father of their son, is suddenly incarcerated, leaving her to navigate a chaotic and humorous existential crisis when she is forced to move in with Miles' mother and half-sister."

Benjamin Earl Turner has been hired as a writer on the series and to play a character named Earl, "who is fresh out of jail and wearing an ankle bracelet while doing a year of house arrest. He is just trying to kill time and lay low." Atticus Woodward (Shameless) will take over the role of Sean, Miles' and Ashley's "sweet, smart, and energetic son." Jaylen Barron (Shake It Up) has quite the role as Trish, Miles' younger half-sister, "who might be wilder than he is. While she is quite a handful, she is the most loyal and loving person you'll ever meet." And finally, Candace Nicholas-Lippman (Good Trouble) will play Ashley's close friend Janelle, "who is equal parts TOWN as hell and worldly. She has just returned to the neighborhood in Oakland after spending many years in Bali."

Here's the trailer for the original movie: