Amidst the upcoming Yellowstone shows that are heading to both TV and streaming (via a Paramount+ subscription), Taylor Sheridan continues to expand his slate of offerings for viewers in need of smart and methodical pulp westerns. Next up on the list is Lawmen: Bass Reeves, the first season of a historical anthology, for which Sheridan teamed up with fellow executive producer David Oyelowo, and which boasts Ray Donovan and Rectify vet Chad Feehan as its creator and showrunner.
The series, which was temporarily being branded as a second season for 1883, aims to dramatize the epic life and legacy of slave-turned-U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves, a legend in Texas and other Southern states who isn’t nearly as widely revered in other parts of the country. Feehan aims to fix that with this eight episode season, and he secured a pretty stellar cast to bring the justice-seeker’s story to streaming audiences.
David Oyelowo (Bass Reeves)
The Emmy-nominated David Oyelowo broke out on the small screen as part of the UK spy drama Spooks, but inarguably has found his biggest successes through cinema, as a co-star of such celebrated works as 2012’s Middle of Nowhere, 2013’s The Butler, and 2014’s Selma and A Most Violent Year. Which isn’t to take away from his TV voice work as Star Wars Rebels’ Alexsandr Kallus or The Lion Guard’s Scar. He most recently starred in Apple TV+’s sci-fi adaptation Silo, and will soon be seen in the Jay Z-produced biblical comedy The Book of Clarence.
In Lawmen, Oyelowo rocks both a clean-shaven face and a mustache as the titular icon Bass Reeves, whose storied life took him from the dangers of warzones and Southern plantations to a place of authority at a time when Black men rarely attained such responsibilities. In both life and the new series, Bass is/was a badass whose loyalties stretch as far and wide as his horse-riding and sharpshooting talents.
Lauren E. Banks (Jennie Reeves)
An up-and-coming actress who previously appeared in such shows as Netflix’s Maniac and AMC’s Dietland, Lauren E. Banks’ biggest role to date was as the private attorney co-lead Siobhan on Showtime’s City on a Hill. In 2022, she also appeared in the acclaimed streaming limited series Roar and Gaslit.
Banks joined Lawmen: Bass Reeves in the role of Jennie Reeves, the titular cowboy’s wife. It’s known that the couple sired a slew of children together, which speaks to the fact that Jennie is a strong and dependable provider for her family through thick and thin.
Demi Singleton (Sally Reeves)
Now at 16 years old, NOLA native Demi Singleton only has a handful of credits to her name, but it’s clear she’s making every choice count. Alongside her first role in 2019’s Goldie, Singleton landed a co-starring role in another historical drama, Godfather of Harlem, as gangster Bumpy Johnson’s granddaughter Margaret. She then hit an even higher level of fame in 2021 portraying the hyper-talented athlete Serena Williams in the Oscar-winning drama King Richard.
For Lawmen, Singleton took on the role of Sally Reeves, Bass and Jennie’s eldest daughter, who no doubt develops some mothering skills of her own as the sibling to so many younger brothers and sisters.
Dennis Quaid (Sherrill Lynn)
Throughout his many years in Hollywood, Dennis Quaid has largely been known for playing sympathy-earning protagonists in such favorites as Innerspace, Any Given Sunday, Frequency, The Day After Tomorrow and many more. Though mostly known for his film work, Quaid has developed his TV filmography in the past decade or so, with such projects as Vegas, Fortitude, Goliath and 2023’s Full Circle. He’ll soon be seen playing the titular former POTUS in the upcoming drama Reagan.
Dennis Quaid gets to drop the good guy persona ever so slightly for Lawmen: Bass Reeves, where he plays U.S. Marshal Sherrill Lynn, a Deputy U.S. Marshal who crosses fateful paths with David Oyelowo’s character. Quaid is no stranger to Texas westerns, having portrayed Sam Houston in The Alamo, and for a Yellowstone-esque connection, the actor also played Doc Holliday to Kevin Costner’s Wyatt Earp in the 1994 film of the same name.
Shea Whigham (George Reeves)
An actor who is often among the best parts of every project he stars in, Shea Whigham broke out in the 2000 war film Tigerland, and has played a slew of characters boasting military and/or law enforcement titles in the decades since. His TV career took off thanks to his role as Eli Thompson in HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, and he’s stick with the premium cabler for later projects such as True Detective, Vice Principals, Perry Mason, and The Righteous Gemstones, not to mention other acclaimed dramas such as Waco, Gaslit, Fargo and Homecoming, to name but a few.
Shea Whigham looks right at home in Lawmen: Bass Reeves as another military man named George Reeves. With the series lead sharing this character’s surname, he’s presumably the slave owner responsible for Bass early on.
Bass Reeves is set to make its streaming premiere on Paramount+ on Sunday, November 5, with back-to-back episodes dropping at once. Head to our 2023 TV premiere schedule to see what else is heading to the small screen in the meantime.
