Tony Winner Anika Noni Rose to Star in CBS Civil Rights Crime Drama FOR JUSTICE

Deadline reports that Tony Award winner Anika Noni Rose (A Raisin in the Sun) has signed on for the lead role in the CBS civil rights crime drama drama pilot FOR JUSTICE. The project is written by Law & Order scribe Rene Balcer and directed by Selma's Ava DuVernay.

Based on the James Patterson crime novel, The Thomas Berryman Number, the plot will follow "Special Agent Natalia "Nat" Chappel (Rose), a cool, laser-focused, tough as nails FBI agent who works in the Criminal Section of the Department of Civil Rights Division and finds herself caught between the radical family she was born into and the professional family she has chosen."

According to the report, For Justice will tackle many of the racial aspects of crime that have been causing a national debate in recent months involving several high-profile cases, including the riots in Ferguson, Missouri following the shooting of Michael Brown, and the accidental death of Eric Garner at the hands of NYPD cops. Rose has been very vocal and has taken a stand on the grand jury decisions in both cases.

Rose, who most recently starred on Broadway in A Raisin in the Sun, won the Tony and Theatre World Awards for her performance in the musical Caroline, Or Change and starred as Lorell in the screen adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Dreamgirls. Her other stage credits include the Encores! productions of The Cradle Will Rock and Purlie, the NY Philharmonic's production of Company, Maggie in Cat on A Hot Tin Roof opposite Terrence Howard, James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad, Footloose, and Eli's Coming (Obie Award).

Anika's other film credits include For Colored Girls, Just Add Water and the Disney's animated feature The Princess And The Frog, in which she supplied THE VOICE of Princess Tiana which made her Disney's first African-American princess. She will soon be seen in the film Half of a Yellow Sun opposite Thandie Newton. Her TV credits include The Good Wife, Elementary, Private Practice, Hallmark Hall of Fame's The Watsons Go To Birmingham, Stephen King's Bag of Bones opposite Pierce Brosnan and soon in A Day Late and a Dollar Short based on Terry McMillan's novel opposite Whoopi Goldberg. Anika is a three-time NAACP Image Award nominee for her performances in Anthony Minghella's The No.1 Detective Agency (HBO), Law & Order: SVU and Hallmark Hall of Fame's Mitch Albom's Have A Little Faith.

Photo Credit: Genevieve Rafter-Keddy