‘This Is Us’ Star Melanie Liburd Joins ‘Bad Boys 4’ (Exclusive)

Brit actress Melanie Liburd has been cast in Columbia Pictures’ upcoming fourth Bad Boys title in what The Hollywood Reporter understands is a leading role.

The as-yet-untitled movie — which reunites stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence with their Bad Boys for Life directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah — is currently in production (Smith and Lawrence spoke to CinemaCon from the set in Atlanta via a taped message during Sony’s opening night presentation Monday). Liburd joins the film as a character called Christine.

The movie — the next instalment in a Bad Boys franchise that has so far amassed more than $840 million across three titles ($426 million from the third film alone) — is the latest significant credit on a growing résumé for Liburd, who had a major role in the third season of This Is Us and first and second seasons of Power Book II: Ghost. She has a recurring role in The Wknd’s HBO series The Idol, due to have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May, and stars alongside Alicia Silverstone in horror film Perpetrator, which first bowed in Berlin in February. Previous credits also include Game of Thrones, the Netflix series Gypsy and Syfy’s Dark Matter.

The fourth Bad Boys film sees Smith and Lawrence reprising their roles as Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett, respectively, and also stars Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Paola Núñez and Eric Dane. El Arbi and Fallah are directing from a script penned by Chris Bremner. Smith, Jerry Bruckheimer, Doug Belgrad and Chad Oman are producing with a roster of executive producers that includes Lawrence, James Lassiter, Mike Stenson, Barry Waldman and Jon Mone. 

Liburd is represented by UTA and the Identity Agency Group.