Lupita Nyong’o and Natalie Portman to co-star in new Apple TV+ series

Apple TV+ continues to impress with the number of high-profile projects they have lined up featuring A-list actors and actresses. The latest pair joining the series are Academy Award-winning actresses Lupita Nyong’o and Natalie Portman. They’ll star in Lady in the Lake, an adaption of Laura Lippman’s New York Times best-selling novel of the same name.

I actually read the book for the first time earlier this year and I’m looking forward to seeing the live-action adaption. Portman and Nyong’o are well-cast for the main roles in Lady in the Lake.  Alongside the stars, the series will be co-written and directed by Alma Har’el. Per the official press release, all three women will serve as executive producers alongside co-creator and co-writer Dre Ryan.

Set in 1960s Baltimore, Lady in the Lake stars Portman as housewife and mother Maddie Schwartz who decides to try and reinvent herself as an investigative journalist, a feat practically unheard of at the time. Her new course sets her up to encounter Nyong’o’s character, Cleo Sherwood, “a hard-working woman juggling motherhood, many jobs and a passionate commitment to advancing Baltimore’s Black progressive agenda.”

Lady in the Lake is Natalie Portman’s first significant television role.

Portman has never had any leading roles on television. At most she’s appeared in a few guest spots here and there, such as in the upcoming Disney+ series What If and the TBS show Angie Tribeca.

As for Har’el, you might recognize her name as the director of Honey Boy, which won her several awards, including the Sundance 2019 Special Jury Directing Award for Craft and Vision. She was also the first woman to win the DGA Award for First-Time Feature Film and the first woman in DGA Awards history to be nominated for both commercial directing (2018) and narrative directing (2020).

Lady in the Lake probably won’t premiere until 2022 or later.

Apple TV+ has a full slate of shows coming up at the moment, so it’s really hard to guess when this new series might premiere. If I had to guess, I would imagine it won’t be until late 2022 or beyond.

In the meantime, you can purchase Lippman’s book right now on Amazon or any other bookseller!