NEW YORK—Sundance Channel has announced that actress Lisa Bonet will guest star in a multi-episode arc in the network’s new scripted drama “The Red Road,” slated to premiere in early 2014. Bonet plays the role of Sky Van Der Veen, a Lenape Native American lawyer who has come back to her hometown of Walpole, N.J. to rally for justice after a terrible crime has been committed against a member of her tribe.
Bonet, best known for her previous role as Denise Huxtable on “The Cosby Show,” and “A Different World,” as well as parts in the films High Fidelity and Enemy of the State, joins previously announced cast members of “The Red Road” including Jason Momoa (Wolves, “Game of Thrones”), Martin Henderson (Devil’s Knot, The Ring, Smokin’ Aces), Julianne Nicholson (August: Osage County, “Boardwalk Empire”), Tamara Tunie (“Law and Order: Special Victim’s Unit,” “The Good Wife”), Annalise Basso (Oculus, Standing Up) Allie Gonino (“The Lying Game,” Hidden Away), Kiowa Gordon (The Twilight Saga, Wind Walkers) and Golden Globe® nominee Tom Sizemore (Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down, Pearl Harbor, Heat). The series recently wrapped filming near Atlanta, Ga.
“The producers had seen a little film that Jason [Momoa] had directed and we played opposite each other and they appreciated our chemistry together,” says Bonet of working with her husband. “In this business smart work and keeping the family together are both hard to come by, so this was a no brainer. I love working with him. I couldn’t feel any safer.”
“The Red Road” is a hard-hitting drama that revolves around a local cop (Henderson) struggling to keep his family together while simultaneously policing two clashing communities: the small town where he grew up and the neighboring mountains, home of a Native American tribe. After a terrible tragedy and cover-up occurs involving the cop’s wife (Nicholson), an unholy alliance is forged between the cop and Phillip Kopus (Momoa), a dangerous member of the tribe that will come back to haunt all involved.
As was previously announced, “The Red Road” has been picked up for six one-hour episodes and hails from acclaimed writer Aaron Guzikowski (Contraband, Prisoners) and veteran producer Sarah Condon (“Bored to Death”). The series will be executive produced by Guzikowski, Condon, and Bridget Carpenter (“Friday Night Lights,”“Parenthood”). Award winning director James Gray (The Immigrant, Two Lovers, We Own The Night) directed the first episode. “The Red Road” is Sundance Channel’s second wholly owned original scripted series; its first was the acclaimed “Rectify,” which returns for a second season in 2014.
