Netflix’s Colin Kaepernick Series Adds Mary-Louise Parker, Nick Offerman to Cast

Mary-Louise Parker and Nick Offerman have joined the cast of Netflix’s limited series about Colin Kaepernick’s formative years, “Colin in Black & White.”

The two veteran actors will portray the adoptive parents of Kaepernick, Teresa and Rick Kaepernick, respectively. They join the previously-announced Jaden Michael, who will play the professional athlete.

Kaepernick played six seasons in the NFL for the San Francisco 49ers before becoming a free agent after choosing to kneel when the national anthem played in the stadium before his games in 2016. This action was his way of protesting police brutality and systemic racism. In 2019 he settled a lawsuit with the NFL, which he claimed was working to keep him from playing, but he is still a free agent.

The six-episode series, however, is not set to focus on Kaepernick’s recent fame, but instead explore his adolescent years when he was developing his athletic prowess while navigating growing up as a Black teen growing up in a white, adopted family. It will follow his journey to become a quarterback while also defining his identity and lending insight into what led him to become the Freedom Fighter that he is today. As Teresa and Rick, Parker and Offerman will explore what it means to raise a Black child in a predominantly white community.

“Colin in Black & White” was created by Kaepernick and Ava DuVernay. They executive produce alongside Michael Starrbury, who also serves as writer. Kaepernick will also lend his voice to the production as the narrator.

Parker is represented by CAA and Untitled Entertainment. Offerman is represented by UTA and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner & Klein.