Dulé Hill & Sarayu Blue Join Hulu Limited Series ‘Orphan’

Denise Petski
·3 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: Dulé Hill and Sarayu Blue are set for key recurring roles opposite Ellen Pompeo and Mark Duplass in Orphan (working title), Hulu‘s eight episode limited series starring and executive produced by Pompeo.

Written by Katie Robbins, the drama series is inspired by the true story of a Midwestern couple, Michael and Kristine Barnett, played by Duplass and Pompeo, who adopt a girl with a rare form of dwarfism. But as they begin to raise her alongside their three biological children, questions emerge around her age and background, and they slowly start to suspect she may not be who she says she is. As they grow to believe their new daughter is a threat, she fights her own battle to confront her past and what her future holds, in a showdown that ultimately plays out in the tabloids and the courtroom.

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Hill plays Brandon Drysdale, the detective investigating the criminal allegations made against the Barnetts. As he searches for justice amid the twists and turns of Natalia’s case, he becomes more and more emotionally involved in her story.

Blue portrays Valika, the parent of one of the kids at Kristine’s (Pompeo) daycare center. Elegant and sophisticated, Val is grateful for Kristine’s work with her neurodivergent daughter, and over the course of the series she becomes one of her close friends and confidants.

Duplass will play Michael Barnett, at the time husband of Pompeo’s Kristine Barnett, and adoptive father to Natalia (Imogen Faith Reid).

In 2019, Michael (Duplass), an upbeat Midwestern dad and retail manager, was charged, along with his ex-wife Kristine (Pompeo), for the neglect and abandonment of their daughter Natalia, whom they adopted in 2010. Already in the public eye because of Kristine’s bestselling book The Spark– about raising their son Jacob, a science prodigy– Michael’s world begins to crumble as he and Kristine are forced to defend the narratives they’ve spun about Natalia in the courts of law and public opinion.

Robbins serves as creator, writer and executive producer on the series, which is told from multiple points of view to reflect the conflicting narratives of its central characters. Sarah Sutherland is writer/executive producer. Pompeo executive produces through her production banner Calamity Jane with Laura Holstein. Mike Epps, Dan Spilo, Niles Kirchner and Andrew Stearn also executive produce. Liz Garbus directs and executive produces the pilot. ABC Signature is the studio.

Hill is perhaps best known for eight-season run as Burton ‘Gus’ Guster in USA Network comedy Psych, for which he also served as a producer. Hill revived his role in the films Psych: The Movie, Psych 2: Lassie Come Home and Psych 3: This Is Gus, for Peacock. He recently starred as patriarch Bill Williams in ABC’s Peabody Award winning reimagining of The Wonder Years, for which he received an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series. He can next be seen in the upcoming PBS docuseries The Express Way with Dulé Hill, executive produced and directed by filmmaker Danny Lee and his production company CALICO. Hill also serves as an executive producer on the series alongside his producing partner Jazmyn Simon under their production company Simon Says Hill. On the film side, he was most recently seen in the Netflix film Hypnotic, and opposite Chiwetel Ejiofor and Anne Hathaway in the Max heist film Locked Down. He’s repped by CAA, Washington Square Films and Fuller Law.

Blue most recently received critical acclaim for her role of Hilary Starr opposite Nicole Kidman in Prime Video’s Expats, directed by Lulu Wang. Prior to Expats, Blue led the NBC comedy I Feel Bad and also appeared in Netflix’s Never Have I Ever and Apple TV+’s  The Shrink Next Door. On the film side, she starred opposite John Cena in Universal’s Blockers and had roles in Hulu’s Happiest Season and Netflix trilogy, To All The Boys I Loved Before. Blue is repped by CAA, Mosaic and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher.

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