Octavia Spencer will star in Fox’s “Red Band Society” from ABC Studios/Amblin Television, the network told TheWrap.
On the youthful drama, Spencer will play Nurse Jackson, a no-nonsense, no first name, entitled pediatrics nurse. Jackson is described as a tough customer who’s an excellent, intuitive nurse and doesn’t put up with any guff from anyone.
Jackson, the show’s lead, also does not reveal any emotions on the job, believing that anything she feels is nothing compared to the real pain and trauma her young patients are going through, the long character description adds. Though despite her exterior attitude, the highly competent nurse is profoundly sympathetic to the kids on her ward, and can be surprisingly nice to them.
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“Red Band Society” centers on a group of teenagers that meet as patients in the children’s wing of a hospital and become unlikely allies and friends. Fox’s order is for a pilot plus additional scripts.
The one-hour, surrogate family drama is executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Margaret Nagle (“Boardwalk Empire”), Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank and Sergio Aguero.
Spencer was previously set to star in the remake of “Murder, She Wrote” before the project was dropped by NBC.