A new limited series starring Ethan Hawke as abolitionist John Brown, premieres on SHOWTIME® Sunday, October 4 at 9/8c.
Based on the National Book Award winning novel by bestselling author James McBride, the series is produced by Blumhouse Television, the studio behind the Golden Globe® Award winning and Critics’ Choice®, Writers Guild and Screen Actors Guild Award®nominated series The Loudest Voice.
THE GOOD LORD BIRD is told from the point of view of Onion (Joshua Caleb Johnson), a fictional enslaved boy who becomes a member of Brown’smotley family of abolitionist soldiers during BleedingKansas – a time when the state was a battleground between pro- and anti-slavery forces – and eventually finds himself participating in the famous1859 raid on the. U.S. Armory at Harpers Ferry. Brown’s raid failed to initiate the slave revolt he intended, but was an event that hastened the Civil War.
THE GOOD LORD BIRD weaves a humorous, dramatic and historical tapestry of Antebellum America, spotlighting the complicated and ever-changing racial, religious and gender roles that make up the American identity.
The series also stars Critics’ Choice winner and Screen Actors Guild Award nominee Ellar Coltrane (Boyhood), Nick Eversman (Wild), Beau Knapp (Seven Seconds), Mo Brings Plenty (Yellowstone), JackAlcott (Champaign ILL) and Hubert Point-Du Jour (Madam Secretary). And a roster of talented guest starsincluding Tony®Award winner Daveed Diggs (Hamilton) as abolitionist Frederick Douglass, Emmy® nominee David Morse (Escape atDannemora) as Dutch Henry Sherman, Steve Zahn (War of the Planet of the Apes) as Chase, Maya Hawke (Stranger Things)asAnnieBrown, WyattRussell (Lodge 49) as federal officer Jeb Stuart, Orlando Jones (American Gods) as The Rail Man, among others.
THE GOOD LORD BIRD is executive produced by Jason Blum, Ethan Hawke, Ryan Hawke, Mark Richard, Padraic McKinley, Jeremy Gold, Marci Wiseman, Albert Hughes, James McBride, Brian Taylor, Marshall Persinger and DavidSchiff.
