Ten years ago, if you were a movie star and did a TV series, it was a sign that you were washed up, that you couldn’t get work on the big screen. These days, if you’re a movie star without a TV series, people start to worry about your career — from The Rock to Emma Stone, all the big names are actively chasing small-screen projects to boost their cred, and hopefully get the same kind of boost that Matthew McConaughey got from “True Detective” (Vince Vaughn, not so much).
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The latest to make the jump to television? Jessica Biel, who according to Deadline will topline a USA pilot called “The Sinner.” Outside of an (excellent) recent voice spot on “Bojack Horseman,” Biel hasn’t done television since she broke out in “7th Heaven,” but with few hits in recent years, going this route might be the way to go. The story’s based on a German crime novel by Petra Hammesfahr, and will see the actress play a young mother who suddenly, and without knowing why, stabs a stranger to death in the street.
Created by “The Astronauts Wives Club” creator Derek Simonds, the show’s landed at USA, which has won critical plaudits in the last year or two thanks to “Mr. Robot” and the more recent summer hit “Queen Of The South,” though this somehow sounds even darker than either. And it’s got some serious directorial cred attached to, with indie helmer Antonio Campos, of “Afterschool,” “Simon Killer” and “Christine” fame, attached to direct the pilot. It’s not clear when the pilot will shoot, but we imagine this is looking pretty good to join the network’s drama slate some time in 2017.