New Apple TV Plus series will star Natalie Portman and Lupita Nyong'o

Natalie Portman and Lupita Nyong'o are set to star in Lady in the Lake, a new limited series for Apple TV Plus.

Set in '60s Baltimore, the series will follow Maddie (Portman), a housewife and mother who decides to reinvent herself as an investigative journalist in the wake of an unresolved murder case. This sets her on a collision course with Cleo (Nyong'o), a woman juggling motherhood, work, and her commitment to advancing Baltimore’s Black progressive agenda. 

This will be Portman's first major small-screen role – the actor, known for her roles in movies like Black Swan and Jackie, has only made TV show cameos previously. She is currently filming Thor: Love and Thunder and was last seen on the big screen in the 2019 drama Lucy in the Sky, alongside Jon Hamm and Ellen Burstyn. 

This will be Nyong'o's first big TV role, too, after the planned HBO adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel Americanah, in which she was set to play the female lead, was scrapped. On the big screen, she'll reprise the role of Nakia in the upcoming MCU sequel Black Panther 2, with filming due to start this summer.

Based on the novel of the same name by Laura Lippman, Lady in the Lake will be directed by Alma Har'el in her first foray into TV. The Honey Boy helmer also co-created the series and co-wrote with The Man In The High Castle writer Dre Ryan. Jean-Marc Vallée and Nathan Ross are on board as executive producers – the duo also executive produced the HBO series Big Little Lies and Sharp Objects.

While we wait for Lady in the Lake to hit the small screen, make sure you've caught up with all the best TV shows of 2020.