Variety reports that Taylor Schilling has been cast as the lead in the NBC drama pilot “What Dead People Know.”
The pilot was picked up by NBC in January and was executive produced by NBC founder Dick Wolf. The film is based on the memoir of the same name by former New York City medical examiner Barbara Butcher. The show’s logline reads, “Death investigator Eva Ledger (Schilling) is very good at working with corpses. It’s the living that haunt her. ‘What the Dead Know’ follows Eva as she teams up with the NYPD to solve their toughest cases.”
Schilling is best known for her role as Piper Chapman in the groundbreaking Netflix series Orange Is the New Black. Her work on this show earned her an Emmy nomination and two Golden Globe nominations. Since then, she has appeared on shows such as Apple TV’s “Dear Edward,” Hulu’s “Pam & Tommy,” Peacock’s “Poker Face,” and the AMC animated series “Pantheon.” Schilling has also appeared in films such as “The Family,” “The Lucky One,” and “Argo.”
She is repped by Gersh, Untitled, and Goodman Genow.
“What the Dead Know” is written and executive produced by Beth Reinhart. Wolf will executive produce alongside Tom Thayer, Peter Jankowski and Anastasia Puglisi through Wolf Entertainment. Kevin Plunkett, Rebecca McGill and Butcher will serve as co-executive producers. Universal Television, with whom Wolf has an overall contract, will produce.
With this casting, NBC has established lead roles for all drama pilots this season. As previously announced, David Boreanaz will lead the network’s effort to reboot “The Rockford Files,” and “Bones” alum Emily Deschanel will star in an untitled criminal profiler drama pilot. In addition, Damon Wayans Jr. is set to star in the pilot “Puzzled,” about a man with acquired savant syndrome. Peter Krauss was recently cast in a key role in the NBC drama pilot “Protection,” which is being described as an ensemble drama.
