Phylicia Rashad to play lesbian FBI agent in new CBS pilot
Phylicia Rashad has joined For Justice, a CBS drama pilot in which she’ll play a lesbian FBI agent, potentially shattering the Claire Huxtable image that has recently been as much of a curse as a gift. Variety reports Rashad will play Georgina Howe, the head of the FBI’s Civil Rights Division and a “savvy Washington player” experienced in DC’s bare-knuckle brawling after a career spent overcoming discrimination based on her race and sexual orientation. Selma’s Ava DuVernay will direct the pilot from a script Law & Order alum Rene Balcer adapted from James Patterson’s novel The Thomas Berryman Number. Rashad booked a role last month in Creed, the forthcoming Rocky spin-off, but For Justice would be her first time in the main cast of a television series since CBS’s Cosby.