Variety has brought word that the upcoming Showtime dramedy pilot RIta led by Game of Thrones alum Lena Headey is making headway as Unbelievable‘s Lisa Cholodenko has signed on to direct and executive produce.
RELATED: Lena Headey to Star in Showtime Dramedy Pilot Rita
In Rita, Headey, whose credits also include Fighting with My Family, The Flood, and the upcoming The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, will play the title character, a headstrong, unconventional teacher and single mother who takes on every kind of authority — as well as her family — in a messy and unfiltered way.
“Rita is a deliciously subversive character who will make you laugh and cry as she continuously challenges the hypocrisy around her. It goes without saying that Lena Headey is a force, whose essence is ideal to take on this wonderfully dynamic lead role,” Jana Winograde, President of Entertainment at Showtime Networks Inc., said in a previous statement.
Prior to helming the first three episodes of Netflix’s acclaimed miniseries Unbelievable, Cholodenko is well-known for her work co-writing and directing the Golden Globe-winning and Oscar nominated dramedy The Kids Are All Right, as well as the 2002 drama Laurel Canyon and the 2014 HBO miniseries adaptation of Olive Kitteridge.
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Headey will executive produce the pilot, a co-production of Showtime and Platform One Media, with creator and showrunner Christian Torpe (Silent Heart, Blackbird). Torpe is also writing the pilot based on his award-winning original Danish series. Elisa Ellis will executive produce for Platform One Media, which is headed by Katie O’Connell Mash.
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