Imogen Reid Joins Ellen Pompeo in Hulu’s Orphan-Adoption Limited Series
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UK actor Imogen Reid has been tapped as a co-lead opposite Ellen Pompeo in Hulu’s untitled orphan limited series, executive produced by the Grey’s Anatomy star.
Created and written by Katie Robbins, the Untitled Orphan Project is inspired by the true story of a Midwestern couple who adopts a young girl with a rare form of dwarfism (Reid). But as they begin to raise her alongside their three other children, they slowly start to suspect she may not be who she says she is. As they question her story, they’re confronted with hard questions of their own about the lengths they’re willing to go to defend themselves and protect their own narrative, falling into a battle that’s fought in the tabloids, the courtroom, and ultimately their marriage.
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Pompeo will play the mother.
The shocking case, which has drawn parallels to the 2009 horror movie Orphan, made national headlines in September 2019 when Kristine Barnett and her ex-husband Michael Barnett were charged with neglect for allegedly abandoning their adopted daughter Natalia, who has a rare form of dwarfism, when she was 9. The parents have claimed that Natalia, whom they adopted when they thought she was 6, is in fact a mentally disturbed adult woman who threatened their lives. Most of the charges against the Barnetts eventually were dismissed; Natalia has denied the accusations that she is a grownup con artist.
Erin Levy will serve as showrunner on the series and executive produce alongside Robbins. Pompeo will executive produce through her production banner Calamity Jane with Laura Holstein. Mike Epps, Dan Spilo and Niles Kirchner also executive produce alongside Andrew Stearn.
Reid trained at the Miskin Theatre at UK’s North Kent College. Her work has been featured across regional theatres in the UK, as well as on film and television projects including Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them: The Crimes Of Grindelwald, BBC’s Les Miserables, The Third Day and upcoming projects with Amazon. She is repped by Lisa Osmond of Oh So Small.
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