For the first time since her guest-starring role in VH1's Barely Famous, Jessica Alba is headed to a television series. Not just any television series, however, as the actress is joining NBC as it continues to develop its pilot for a spinoff based on the Bad Boys film franchise. Alba will join the pilot as Nancy McKenna and star in the potential series alongside Gabrielle Union in what is beginning to become a star-studded affair.
Jessica Alba's Nancy McKenna is new to the Bad Boys franchise, and will play the partner to Gabrielle Union's Syd Burnett, who is not. McKenna is an Army veteran who enlisted fresh out of high school and spent a majority of her military service in the Afghanistan and Iraq war. McKenna wasn't allowed to serve in combat over there, so she joined the military police in an attempt to get closer to the action. When the story joins her, she's working as an LAPD detective and Syd's partner as and raising two pre-teen sons with her husband.
Variety reports Jessica Alba also joined the pilot as an executive producer. She'll be joined by the project's writers Brandon Sonnier and Brandon Margolis, and producer of the Bad Boys films Jerry Bruckheimer. Gabrielle Union is not listed as an executive producer on the potential series, but is one of the franchise's carryover characters and star as Syd Burnett. In the films, Syd was the sister of Marcus Burnett, and was also played by Union. The series will see Syd ship off from Miami and head to L.A. to enter the world of law enforcement there, and hopefully bring some bad guys to justice.
NBC's Bad Boys spinoff pilot already had a positive chance of getting a series order due to its name recognition and Gabrielle Union, and Jessica Alba may have just made this a sure thing. With Alba set to star in the project, this could be the first television series the actress has starred in since her breakout role in the early 2000s series Dark Angel. Alba has managed to lead a successful film career since then, but with her roles in projects beginning to slow down, now might be the perfect time for the actress to have a long stint on network television.
The Bad Boys pilot is still in development, so no release date or series order has been planned as of yet. For a look at what television has been confirmed to air in 2018 so far, head on over to our midseason premiere guide. For more on Jessica Alba and what she's been up to as of late, check out this picture she snapped of herself breastfeeding in a Target dressing room.
