Ava DuVernay unravels the Central Park Five case in Netflix's When They See Us trailer
Remember when President Donald Trump once took out ads that read “Bring Back the Death Penalty” during the case of the Central Park Five? Ava Duvernay remembers.
In the first full trailer for her Netflix four-part limited series When They See Us, the A Wrinkle in Time director re-examines the case that saw five minority teens wrongly convicted of the assault and rape of a female jogger in New York City’s Central Park on the night of April 19, 1989. All the events surrounding the injustice are there, warts and all, including how Niecy Nash (playing the mother of one of the teens) sees one of those newspaper ads commissioned by our current sitting president.
The producers of American Crime Story once said they are drawn to stories that aren’t just a crime of individuals, but “a crime America is guilty of.” In that sense, When They See Us is DuVernay’s American Crime Story.
Actors Jovan Adepo (Antron McCray), Justin Cunningham (Kevin Richardson), Chris Chalk (Yusef Salaam), Freddy Miyares (Raymond Santana), and Jharrel Jerome (Korey Wise) portray the five teens that came to be known as The Central Park Five.
Nash, Michael K. Williams, Vera Farmiga, John Leguizamo, Blair Underwood, Christopher Jackson, Joshua Jackson, Omar J. Dorsey, Adepero Oduye, and Famke Janssen are among the immense cast that brings these series of events to life. With Netflix pushing back the release of Otherhood, this also seems to be actress Felicity Huffman’s first project to be released since the college admissions scandal broke.
When They See Us will premiere on Netflix May 31.
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