“American Crime” has landed André Benjamin to complete a formidable power couple with Regina King in its second season, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The Outkast singer, better known as Andre 3000, will make his debut as a TV series regular on the ABC anthology series created by John Ridley, who directed Benjamin in the 2014 Jimi Hendrix biopic, “Jimi: All Is by My Side.”
"Personally, I couldn’t be more excited than to work again with Andre," Ridley said in a statement. "He is an amazing individual, a true artist, and All is by my Side is one of the reasons I was given the reins on ‘American Crime.’ Folks at ABC were absolutely moved by Andre’s performance in the film, and by the overall language of cinema we used in telling the story. It’s fair to say ‘American Crime’ might not exist were it not for our previous collaboration."
The second season of the Emmy-nominated miniseries will take place in Indianapolis (although the show will shoot in Austin, Texas) and will explore hot button issues such as sexual orientation and sexual identity, according to Variety.
“We wanted a city that could represent America and could represent where we are now, in terms of being of a canvas of America,” Ridley told Variety.
The focuses on a high school boy who accuses several players on a championship basketball team at a private school of sexually assaulting him — and taking photos and posting them online.
“We wanted to take incidents that sometimes in other shows tend to be week-to-week and episodic and not just use them merely as plot points, but really see how they play out with family, how they have a cascade effect over time, and with the community as well,” according to Variety.
Benjamin and King (who also starred in season one) will play the parents of one of the boys accused and who have the financial means to defend their son. Still, their world will be upended by the startling revelations involving their child.
“American Crime” will welcome back Felicity Huffman, Timothy Hutton, Richard Cabral, Elvis Nolasco and Lili Taylor. Joining the show will be Angelique Rivera, Connor Jessup, who will play the accuser, and Joey Pollari.
"American Crime" will return to ABC in 2016.
