Jacki Weaver (Clipped) has joined the cast of NBC‘s The Rockford Files pilot, working alongside David Boreanaz and Michaela McManus.
The project is a contemporary update on the classic series of the same name. Newly paroled after doing time for a crime he didn’t commit, James Rockford (Boreanaz) returns to his life as a private investigator using his charm and wit to solve cases around Los Angeles. It doesn’t take long for his quest for legitimacy to land him squarely in the cross-hairs of both local police and organized crime.
Weaver will play Rockford’s longtime trailer park neighbor; she’s a tough, outspoken activist and think-tank analyst.
McManus will play Kate, an East Hollywood detective whose romantic relationship with Rockford got complicated after he publicly accused fellow officers of framing him.
The original series ran from 1974-1980, with James Garner starring as the titular detective.
While The Rockford Files is set in Los Angeles, the pilot will shoot in Atlanta with additional filming in Los Angeles. It has not been determined where production on the potential series would be based should the pilot get picked up; it’s possible that the show applies for a California tax credit.
The project comes from writer Mike Daniels, producers Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly, and Universal Television. Daniels executive produces alongside Timberman and Beverly via their Timberman/Beverly banner, with the company’s Chris Leanza co-executive producing. Boreanaz is a producer. Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, is the studio.
Weaver is an Australian theater, film and TV actress working for more than 50 years. She is best known outside Australia for her performance in Animal Kingdom, for which she was nominated for the 2011 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress in David O. Russell’s The Silver Linings Playbook. On the TV side, Weaver recently co-starred in Clipped. Other projects include Hello Tomorrow, Yellowstone, Perpetual Grace, LTD and Blunt Talk.
She is repped by CAA and Elevate Entertainment.
English (US) ·