Back in April, director Ava DuVernay put out an open casting call for the titular teens in her upcoming limited-run series Central Park Five, but when it came to casting the adults in the four-part drama, she referred to the more traditional “People Everyone Wants to Work With†list. According to Deadline, Michael K. Williams, John Leguizamo, and Vera Farmiga have joined the show, which recounts the media circus around and wrongful conviction of five Harlem boys blamed for the rape of a jogger in Central Park in 1989.
Williams will reportedly play Bobby McCray, father to accused teen Antron McCray, while Leguizamo will portray Raymond Santana Sr., the dad of McCray’s co-accused, Raymond Santana. Meanwhile, Farmiga has joined the prosecution as Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Lederer. The Netflix series will reportedly span from 1989, the year the boys were convicted, to 2014, the year the five received $41 million in damages from the city after having their convictions vacated.