Apple’s Chris Evans-led series Defending Jacob has found its title character.
It star Jaeden Martell will star opposite Evans in the limited series. Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey) has also signed on to the series ahead of Apple’s anticipated announcement of its TV offerings on Monday.
Defending Jacob, based on a novel by William Landry, centers on Andy Barber (Evans), an assistant district attorney who learns his 14-year-old son (Martell, formerly known as Jaeden Lieberher) is a suspect in the killing of a classmate. Dockery will play Evans’ wife, Laurie.
Evans is also an executive producer of the series from Paramount Television and Anonymous Content. Showrunner Mark Bomback (the Planet of the Apes movies) also executive produces with director Morten Tyldum (Jack Ryan, Counterpart) and Anonymous Content’s Rosalie Swedlin and Adam Shulman.
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Dockery is repped by WME; Martell is with CAA and Emily Cho Talent Management.
Defending Jacob is one of more than 20 scripted series Apple has in development, with talent including Reese Witherspoon, Steven Spielberg, J.J. Abrams and Brie Larson involved in front of or behind the camera. The tech behemoth is widely expected to unveil on Monday how and when users will be able to get at least some of those shows as it looks to join the likes of Netflix and Amazon in competing for consumers’ TV time.
Monday’s announcement is also expected to include information about other subscription services, including one for news content.