Katherine Heigl is joining CBS’ legal drama “Doubt” for the reworked pilot, which is getting a second go at the network. Heigl has been cast as Sadie Ellis, a smart, chic and successful defense lawyer at a boutique firm who gets romantically involved with one of her clients who may or may not be guilty of a brutal crime.
The pilot from “Grey’s Anatomy” duo Tony Phelan and Joan Rater did not make the cut for a series order this past May, and Variety reported the project was poised for a reshoot this fall, after the script was rewritten and various roles were recast. With the changes, insiders say “Doubt” will be put on the fast track for series contention.
In the first pilot shoot, Heigl’s role was previously filled by KaDee Strickland (“Private Practice,” “Secrets and Lies”). Teddy Sears, who has since been cast in “The Flash” season two as Jay Garrick, co-starred opposite Strickland in the original “Doubt,” though insiders tell Variety his role will also be recast.
Original cast members Dulé Hill, Dreama Walker, Elliott Gould, Kobi Libii and “Orange Is the New Black’s” Laverne Cox will still star in the repiloting of “Doubt” with Cox playing Cameron Wirth, a trans Ivy League-educated lawyer who’s both competitive and compassionate. Described as fierce and funny, Cameron’s own experience with injustice causes her to fight even harder for all of her clients.
Hill will play Albert Cobb, Sadie’s (Heigl) law partner and close friend who is working with her on a very high profile case; Walker will play Tiffany Simon, a smart, hard-working second year associate from Iowa who reports to Cameron (Cox); Gould will play Isaiah Roth, the head of the boutique go-to criminal defense firm in New York; and Libii will play Nick Brady, a smart, ambitious and enterprising recent law school graduate who is determined to work with the best criminal defense attorney in New York.
Phelan and Rater serve as writers and exec producers, along with the original creative team, exec producers Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly and Adam Bernstein, who will also direct the new pilot.
“Doubt,” hailing from CBS TV Studios and Timberman/Beverly Productions, reunites Heigl with Phelan and Rater, who were producers on “Grey’s Anatomy,” while she starred on the ABC medical drama.
Following “Grey’s Anatomy,” Heigl has held a slew of film roles and returned to TV last season with NBC’s political thriller “State of Affairs,” which was cancelled after one season. She is repped by WME, Nancy Heigl and Silver Lining Entertainment.
