‘Women of the Movement’ Limited Series at ABC Adds Niecy Nash

Niecy Nash has joined the cast of the upcoming ABC limited anthology series “Women of the Movement,” Variety has learned.

The series will tell the story of key female figures in the Civil Rights Movement. Season 1 will focus on Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett Till. Mamie will be played by Adrienne Warren. Nash will play Alma, Till’s grandmother. After Emmett’s murder in Mississippi, Alma, a young grandmother who had been like a second mother to Emmett, fought to protect her family in Chicago while her daughter travelled the country seeking justice in Emmett’s name.

Nash currently leads the TNT drama series “Claws.” She has been nominated for three Emmy Awards throughout her career — two for the HBO series “Getting On” and other for the Netflix limited series “When They See Us.” She played the role of Officer Raineesha Williams in “Reno 911,” a role she reprised in the 2007 film “Reno 911: Miami” and in the recent Quibi revival. She is also known for her roles on shows like “Scream Queens,” “Masters of Sex,” and “Soul Man.” She previously hosted the home makeover show “Clean House” for Style Network.

She is repped by WME, Artists First, and Jackoway Tyerman.

The first season of “Women of the Movement” is inspired by the book “Emmett Till: The Murder That Shocked the World and Propelled the Civil Rights Movement” by Devery S. Anderson. The series is created by Marissa Jo Cerar, who will also serve as showrunner and executive producer The first episode will be directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, with Prince-Bythewood also executive producing. Along with Cerar and Prince-Bythewood, Jay-Z, Jay Brown, and Tyran “Ty Ty” Smith of Roc Nation and Will Smith and James Lassiter of Overbrook will also executive produce. Other executive producers include Aaron Kaplan, Dana Honor, and Michael Lohmann of Kapital Entertainment, Rosanna Grace of Serendipity Film Group, Alex Foster and John Powers Middleton of Middleton Media Group, and David Clark of Mazo Partners. Kapital Entertainment will produce.