By this point, it feels like every Hollywood actor has received their own custom-made streaming series. All except our man Jake Gyllenhaal, who has always preferred the big screen. The Donnie Darko and Nightcrawler star has somehow managed to keep away from the prestige TV boom entirely, despite being at the helm of nearly every weird, thoughtful thriller worth its salt. Enter Presumed Innocent, Apple TV+’s upcoming eight-part courtroom drama miniseries, which will see Gyllenhaal take on his first major TV series lead role (it must be good).
Based on crime author Scott Turow’s 1987 New York Times bestselling novel of the same name, this isn’t the first time Presumed Innocent has been adapted. Back in 1990, it was turned into a major film starring Harrison Ford. Now, Apple is offering their own spin, this time from the minds of J.J. Abrams and Big Little Lies creator David E. Kelley, so you know the twists are going to knock you sideways.
What is Presumed Innocent about?
Taking over from Ford, Gyllenhaal will play the ludicrously named Rusty Sabich, a chief deputy prosecutor in the Prosecuting Attorneys' office, who finds himself accused of murdering his co-worker (and, crucially, mistress) Carol Polhemus (played by The Worst Person in the World's Renate Reinsve).
While Apple have kept relatively quiet on the plot details, we already have an entire book and film adaptation at our disposal. From the material that's already out there, we know that Sabich is tasked with heading up the investigation for the murder that he eventually becomes accused of. But, as with any tense and twisty thriller, all is not as it seems. Did he do it, or didn't he? You'll have to wait and see.
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Apple promises the series will dive deep into “obsession, sex, politics, and the power and limits of love, as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.”
Who is starring in Presumed Innocent?
Appearing alongside Gyllenhaal, who’s also executive producing, is Oscar-nominated Irish actress Ruth Negga as his wife, Barbara. Terminally online film fans will be intrigued to see that newcomer Chase Infiniti will play Jaden, Rusty and Barbara’s child. Infiniti is currently shooting Paul Thomas Anderson’s next film opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, so expect her star to rise very, very soon.
Filling out the rest of the supporting cast is real-life husband and wife Bill Camp and Elizabeth Marvel as Rusty’s boss and his wife. Keeping up the keeping-it-in-the-family vibe is Gyllenhaal’s own brother-in-law Peter Sarsgaard as Tommy Molto, head of the homicide division. And playing a gender-swapped version of the novel’s Judge Lyttle is Noma Dumezweni, who last worked with Kelley on the HBO miniseries The Undoing.
Most intriguing of all, The Worst Person in the World breakout Renate Reinsve will make her English language series debut as Caroline, Rusty’s murdered lover and colleague. Fingers crossed that despite Caroline’s fate, we’ll still get plenty of the talented Reinsve in flashback form.
Is there a trailer for Presumed Innocent?
Not yet. But Apple has released a few images of Gyllenhaal in character. They don’t give much away but from the looks of things, Rusty will most certainly find himself on both sides of the law.
When will Presumed Innocent be released?
Presumed Innocent actually has a release date (not a tediously vague ‘coming soon’ tease). The series is set to keep you fed with courtroom intrigue all through the summer, with the first two episodes landing on 14 June and a new episode dropping every Friday until 26 July.
