Peacock, NBCUniversal’s upcoming streaming service, has set the cast for One Of Us Is Lying, its YA mystery drama pilot based on Karen M. McManus’ bestselling novel. Marianly Tejada (The Purge), Cooper van Grootel (Go!), Annalisa Cochrane (Into the Dark: Pure), newcomer Chibuikem Uche (Ghost Draft), Jessica McLeod (You Me Her), Barrett Carnahan (Grown-ish) and Melissa Collazo (Swamp Thing) will lead the ensemble cast of the drama which hails from NBCU’s UCP and John Sacchi’s 5 More Minutes Productions banner.
Written by Erica Saleh and based on McManus’ novel, One Of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five high schoolers walk into detention and only four make it out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide.
Tejada will play Brownyn. Top of her class, Bronwyn is so focused on the future she rarely thinks about the present. Most classmates admire her more than they like her, and a few rivals wonder how far she’d go to get ahead.
van Grootel will portray Nate, the school’s most notorious drug dealer, a delinquent who lives alone with his alcoholic father. But that’s not the only reason he’s the police’s prime suspect.
Cochrane will play Addy. Addy makes high school look easy, but you don’t become the school’s most popular cheerleader without hiding secrets. If people really knew her, she fears, her whole world might fall apart.
Uche will portray Cooper. A dominant high school baseball pitcher, scouted by the major leagues, Cooper is on the verge of signing a life-changing professional deal – unless something (or someone) gets in his way.
McLeod is Janae. A punk outsider who hates her fake classmates, Janae is left angry and alone when her only friend is murdered. Rather than simply grieve his death, she promises to honor his bitter legacy.
Carnahan will play Jake, the captain of the football team and the boyfriend of Addy (Cochrane). Jake seems to have it all, but it’s never enough.
Collazo will portray Maeve, Bronwyn’s little sister, who developed a tough demeanor while losing years to a childhood fight with Leukemia. In remission now, she’s hungry to make up for lost time.
Sacchi and Matt Groesch executive produce via Sacchi’s 5 More Minutes. Jennifer Morrison (Euphoria) will direct the pilot and also executive produce.
Tejada is a Dominican-American bilingual actress born in New York and raised in the Dominican Republic. After moving back to the U.S., she trained professionally in New York. Her TV credits include recurring roles in Orange Is The New Black and The Purge. Tejada is repped by JHA Management and Innovative Artists.
van Grootel got his start as a performer on The Legend of Gavin Tanner, followed by roles in Mystery Road with Judy Davis, and Go!, directed by Owen Trevor, opposite Frances O’Connor and Richard Roxburgh. van Grootel is repped by Karli Doumanis at Brave Artists Management (US) and Hallie McKeig at FilmBites (AU).
Cochrane’s television series credits include Modern Family, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Major Crimes. In film, she held a starring role in the independent horror thriller Apparition, opposite Kevin Pollak and Mena Suvari. She has also recurred on Heathers, Cobra Kai and on Jordan Peele’s new series, Weird City, and she was recently seen on the horror anthology series, Into the Dark: Pure. Cochrane is repped by 3 Arts Entertainment, Momentum Talent & Literary Agency and Myman Greenspan.
Uche is a newcomer, but has already booked a pivotal role in the Chris McKay and Chris Pratt feature, Ghost Draft. He is repped by Zero Gravity Management, Encompass and Myman Greenspan.
McLeod recently appeared in a two-season arc on You Me Her as well as the independent coming-of-age film Andie the Great. McLeod also held a guest role on season four of Van Helsing. McLeod is repped by Lauren Levitt & Associates Inc.
Carnahan recently appeared on the Amazon pilot College, produced by Jill Soloway and Channing Tatum. Carnahan will recur on the upcoming seasons of Cobra Kai and Alexa & Katie. Previous recurring credits include Grown-ish, Good Girls Revolt, Colony, Constantine, Best Friends Whenever and The Thundermans. Carnahan is repped by Abrams Artists Agency, LINK Entertainment and Stone, Genow.
Collazo recently recurred in Swamp Thing and plays the lead role in the upcoming feature film Lena And Snowball. Collazo is repped by Velocity Entertainment Partners, Play Management and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.
One Of Us Is Lying is one of three pilot orders from Peacock, joining Punky Brewster, also from UCP, and Straight Talk.
