‘Big Sky’: Valerie Mahaffey Joins David E. Kelley’s PI Drama Series For ABC

Denise Petski
·2 min read

Valerie Mahaffey (Dead To Me) has been cast opposite Brian Geraghty, Katheryn Winnick, Ryan Phillippe and Natalie Alyn Lind in Big Sky, ABC’s straight-to-series drama created and executive produced by David E. Kelley. Based on The Highway, the first book in C.J. Box’s Cassie Dewell series of novels, the project, hails from A+E Studios, which will produce in association with 20th Century Fox Television, part of Disney TV Studios.

Written by Kelley, Big Sky is a procedural thriller in which private detective Cassie Dewell partners with ex-cop Jenny Hoyt (Winnick) on a search for two sisters, Danielle and Grace Sullivan, played by Lind and Pettyjohn, respectively, who have been kidnapped by a truck driver on a remote highway in Montana. When they discover that these are not the only girls who have disappeared in the area, they must race against the clock to stop the killer before another woman is taken.

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Mahaffey will play Helen Pergman. Helen is a meticulous parent, weathering the ups and downs of a contentious relationship with her live-at-home adult son, Ronald (Geraghty).

John Carroll Lynch, Dedee Pfeiffer and Jade Pettyjohn also star.

Kelley executive produces with Ross Fineman, Box, Paul McGuigan, Gwyneth Horder-Payton and Matthew Gross.

Mahaffey, who won an Emmy for her turn as the hypochondriacal Eve in Northern Exposure, most recently was seen as Lorna in Dead To Me. Her film credits include Sully, Jungle 2 Jungle, Seabiscuit and Summer Eleven. She’ll next be seen in French Exit alongside Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges. Mahaffey is repped by Innovative Artists and Howard Entertainment.

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