Former True Blood star Rutina Wesley has been cast in the new OWN series entitled Queen Sugar, based on the Natalie Baszile novel of the same name.

Selma director Ava DuVernay created the pilot for the show and will be directing a few of its first episodes. DuVernay will also be co-executive producing with network founder, Oprah Winfrey, Entertainment Weekly reported.

Wesley will play Nora Bordelon, a journalist and activist from New Orleans. Nora and her family’s life drastically change when her sister Charley moves back to Louisiana from Los Angeles to help run the family’s sugarcane farm.

This role will add to Wesley’s repertoire of acting experience on shows such as True Blood, Hannibal, and Arrow. She also co-starred with Sanaa Lathan, Michael Ealy, and Morris Chestnut in the movie The Perfect Guy, and not to mention her theatre chops.

natalie baszile

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