Jurnee Smollett Lands Lead Role In Bad Girls TV Series

Jurnee Smollett Lands Lead Role In Bad Girls TV Series
Posted by Wilson Morales

February 17, 2012

Source: Deadline

Jurnee Smollett has landed a lead on NBC’s drama pilot ‘Bad Girls.’ Adapted from the long-running U.K. series, the project, from John Wells Prods. and Warner Bros. TV, follows the ins and outs of a group of unlikely women in a federal prison: a scandalous female warden, her new protégé and a host of inmates — some mothers, some friends — who struggle with loyalties to people on the inside and outside. Smollett will play Gwen, a famous rap star who lives the high life on the local club scene until she gets busted by the DEA and finds herself tossed into a women’s prison without bail.

Known for her notable film roles in ‘Eve’s Bayou’ and ‘The Great Debaters,’ Smollett also starred as Jess Merriweather on the critically acclaimed television series ‘Friday Night Lights’ and last played Lisa Tyler in the CBS TV series, ‘The Defenders.’

The New York native will next appear in Tyler Perry directed film ‘The Marriage Counselor.’