Benjamin Bratt to Star in Lee Daniels’ Music Pilot for Fox

Series will co-star Queen Latifah and focus on a group of female singers trying to make it in the music business

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Benjamin Bratt will co-star in Lee Daniels‘ new Fox music series, TheWrap has learned.

Bratt will play Jahil, a music talent manager who believes the girl group the series focuses on will be his ticket back to the top of the business.

The “Law & Order” actor will star opposite Queen Latifah, who will play the owner of an Atlanta beauty salon and a mentor to the women in the group.

Previously announced cast members include newcomers Jude Demorest, Ryan Destiny and Brittany O’Grady as the members of the group. They’ll play Star, Alexandra and Simone, respectively.

The untitled drama is the first project to come out of Daniels’ overall deal with producer 20th Century Fox Television. Daniels and Tom Donaghy are co-creators of the project.

Fox announced the pilot order in August, during the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour. Speaking to reporters at the time, Daniels revealed that the series would be about a white woman named Star who forms a girl group with two black women.

“Star is white and she is thrust into a world of blackness,” Daniels told reporters. He added, “She has a sister who is half black, Simone, and she has a best friend who is black, and they move to Atlanta to form a girls group.”

Music for the show will be created by Swizz Beatz.

The new pilot has the possibility for a crossover with “Empire,” but there are no immediate plans yet, Fox’s Dana Walden stated that same day when asked by a reporter about the pilot order.

“It’s not inconceivable that the two worlds could cross, but that’s not Lee’s intention,” she said. “Perhaps down the line there will be some shared DNA, but not heading into the show.”

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