Taylor Schilling is entering the world of crime procedurals, with the lead role in an NBC pilot from Dick Wolf Entertainment.
The “Orange Is the New Black” star will lead the cast of “What the Dead Know,” which follows the highly intelligent and hypervigilant “death investigator” Ava Ledger, “who feels more at ease searching for cause-of-death than socializing with the living,” according to a character description. The show finds Ava teaming up with the NYPD to solve cases.
The series is based on the memoir by former New York City medical examiner Barbara Butcher of the same name. Beth Rinehart will write and executive produce the pilot with Wolf, Tom Thayer, Peter Jankowski and Anastasia Puglisi executive producing. Fred Berner also serves as director and executive producer.
Schilling is best known for her lead role as Piper Chapman on Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black.” Most recently, she had a guest role on Season 2 of Rian Johnson’s “Poker Face.” She also appeared in the Fox anthology “Accused” and Apple TV+’s “Dear Edward.” She is repped by Gersh, Untitled and Goodman Genow.
The casting comes as NBC builds eight pilots for consideration for the 2026-27 season. David Boreanaz is set to star in the network’s “Rockford Files” reboot, Damon Wayans Jr. is headlining crime drama “Puzzled” and Emily Deschanel will star in another crime drama based on the work of profiler and author Dr. Ann Burgess. “9-1-1” alum Peter Krause was also cast to in a lead role on “Protection,” from Josh Safran.
