Netflix debuted a first look at its upcoming scripted series based on the life of former NFL quarterback-turned social activist Colin Kaepernick on Thursday. The streaming service also revealed when the show, titled “Colin in Black & White,” will premiere.
Co-created by Kaepernick and Ava DuVernay, “Colin in Black & White” is described as “a bold new limited series that chronicles Kaepernick’s coming of age story, tackling the obstacles of race, class and culture as the Black adopted child of a white family.”
The six-episode, half-hour series, which premieres Oct. 29 on Netflix, also features the real Colin Kaepernick, who played for the San Francisco 49ers for six seasons (well, really he played for five), himself as narrator.
“Colin in Black & White” stars Jaden Michael as Young Colin “before reaching the highest levels of American football as an NFL quarterback and becoming a cultural icon and activist,” as well as Nick Offerman and Mary-Louise Parker, who play his “well-meaning” parents Rick and Teresa. Per Netflix: “You don’t know Kaepernick until you know Colin.”
At the bottom of this post you’ll find the six first-look images that Netflix released for “Colin in Black & White” on Thursday, showing Michael as Young Colin, Offerman and Parker as his parents, and Kaep watching his life as he narrates it.
“I’m excited to share this first peek into a project I co-created with the incomparable Ava DuVernay over the past couple of years,” Kaepernick said in a statement via Netflix. “I look forward to the world meeting the incredible Jaden Michael, a young actor who plays me during my high school years, just a kid growing up in Turlock, California who wanted to play ball.”
Episodes of “Colin in Black & White” will be directed by DuVernay, Sheldon Candis, Robert Townsend, Angel Kristi Williams and Kenny Leon. In addition to DuVernay and Kaepernick, Michael Starrbury also executive produces.
Kaep’s best NFL season, statistically, came in 2013, when he led the 49ers to the NFC Championship. The season prior, however, the young QB carried San Francisco to the Super Bowl, where they lost a close one to the Baltimore Ravens.
Colin Kaepernick became known beyond NFL fans when he began kneeling during the pregame national anthem in protest of the police mistreatment of Black people in America.
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