‘The Republic Of Sarah’: Landry Bender, Ian Duff & Forrest Goodluck Join CW Drama Pilot

Denise Petski
·3 min read

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EXCLUSIVE: Landry Bender (Looking for Alaska), Ian Duff (New Amsterdam) and Forrest Goodluck (The Miseducation of Cameron Post) are set as series regulars opposite Stella Baker and Luke Mitchell in the CW drama pilot The Republic of Sarah, from Jeffrey Paul King, Marc Webb, CBS TV Studios and studio-based Fulwell 73.

Written by King, in The Republic of Sarah, faced with the destruction of her town at the hands of a greedy mining company, rebellious high school history teacher Sarah Cooper (Baker) utilizes an obscure cartographical loophole to declare independence. Now Sarah must lead a young group of misfits as they attempt to start their own country from scratch.

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Bender will play Bella (fka Phoebe). Preppy and composed, Bella is the daughter of Greylock’s mayor and one of Sarah’s students. She begins to question her allegiance to her “popular girl” status after an unpleasant sexual encounter with her big-man-on-campus boyfriend and quickly finds herself falling for her shy classmate, Tyler.

Duff will portray Grover, a damaged knockout who works at the local diner. His straightforward, blue-collar charm has made a favorite among Greylock’s citizens — including Sarah, who has long harbored a crush on Grover. He feels the attraction too but carries a painful memory that keeps him from moving forward in life.

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Goodluck is Tyler, a thoughtful, introspective kid who wears his heart on his sleeve, but he also can be incredibly tough thanks to a difficult childhood growing up on a Native American reservation. As he lends a hand with Sarah’s fight against the mining company, he starts making a connection with Bella.

Bender is a series regular on Hulu’s Looking for Alaska and also spent three seasons on Netflix’s Fuller House in the role of Rocki. She was the lead on Disney Channel shows Crash & Bernstein and Best Friends Whenever, and she also voices Makini on animated series The Lion Guard with David Oyelowo. Landry is repped by CAA and Brecheen Feldman.

Duff recurs on NBC’s hit medical drama New Amsterdam. On the big screen, he will be seen later this year in Shaka King’s Untitled Fred Hampton Project opposite Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield. Duff is repped by Gersh.

Goodluck’s credits include lead roles in features The Miseducation of Cameron Post, winner of the 2018 Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and The Revenant, opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy. Upcoming, Goodluck will be seen in indie films Cherry, directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, opposite Tom Holland and Jack Reynor, and I Used to Go Here, directed by Kris Rey, opposite Gillian Jacobs and Jemaine Clement. He’s repped by Gersh, Artists First and Myman Greenspan.

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