It's no secret that producer Ryan Murphy is one of the busiest guys in show business. His various shows always book A-list talent for the cast, and he's currently got four shows on the air, and he's producing an upcoming Broadway show. And now he's made his contributions to FX and Fox to five shows, as his new show Pose been ordered to series. While this is exciting news for a variety of reasons, it looks like one cast member has had to depart the project. Orphan Black's Tatiana Maslany will no longer be in the cast, and her corresponding role is being reworked to fit another type of actress.
This news comes to us from EW, which reports that Tatiana Maslany's role in Pose is now being "reconceived and rewritten to be a 50-year-old African-American woman." Law & Order: SVU actress Charlayne Woodard will be joining the cast in this role, which was originally going to be a modern dance teacher. While this plot point may be consistent with the new character, the love story between she and Damon (Ryan Jamaal Swain) will likely end up scrapped.
Tatiana Maslany's departure is sure to be disappointing for the many TV fans who appreciated her work on Orphan Black. Leading the series, Maslany showed a stunning range as an actress. She played Sarah Manning and her various clones in the series, having to pivot between multiple personalities and their quirks in each episode. With Orphan Black now finished after five seasons, the 32 year actress' schedule seemingly opened up to include Pose, although that's no longer in the cards.
Pose will be set in New York City in the 1980's, and focus on the different types of societies co-existing within the city. This includes the upper class luxury of the Trump-era New York, as well as the downtown art and gay communities.
There will be a great deal of focus on the ballroom scene, an underground modeling competition within the queer community, made famous by the documentary Paris is Burning. Pose will be a groundbreaking series in television history, featuring the largest cast of series regular transgender actors ever. The first season will feature a total of over 50 LBGT characters, which be another new record in TV history.
Overall, this deal cements what a great working relationship producer/director Ryan Murphy has with the folks over at Fox. He's been working with the network since back in his Nip/Tuck days, with shows like Glee, Scream Queens, and newcomer 9-1-1 on the main network. Additionally, FX has been the home of Murphy's anthology series like American Horror Story, American Crime Story, and Feud.
It's currently unclear when Pose will arrive on FX, since the order to series has just been made. In the meantime, check out our midseason premiere list to plan your next binge watch, and our cancellation list to see if your favorite shows got the chop this year.
