EXCLUSIVE: The Florida Project standout, 8-year-old Brooklynn Prince, has been cast as the lead in Apple’s upcoming untitled Hilde Lysiak series, directed and executive produced by Crazy Rich Asians helmer Jon M. Chu.
The 10-episode mystery drama, which has a straight-to-series order, was inspired by the real-life story of 11-year-old Hilde Lysiak. Also described as a family drama, it follows a young girl (Prince) who moves from Brooklyn to the small lakeside town her father left behind. While there, her dogged pursuit of the truth leads her to unearth a cold case that everyone in town, including her own father, tried hard to bury.
The story is inspired by Lysiak, an investigative reporter who, at age 9, was the first to expose a murder in her hometown of Selinsgrove, PA, breaking the news in her self-started newspaper, Orange Street News.
The series, from Anonymous Content and Paramount Television, was created by Ben and Kate creator Dana Fox and Dara Resnik (Daredevil), who executive produce with Joy Gorman Wettels (13 Reasons Why) and Sharlene Martin (Deadly Sins). Chu will direct and executive produce.
This marks the first TV role for Prince, who burst onto the scene with her breakout performance in the Oscar- and Golden Globe-nominated The Florida Project, for which she received a slew of accolades, including a Critics’ Choice Award for Best Young Actress. (you can watch her emotional acceptance speech below).
Prince’s upcoming feature projects include The One and Only Ivan, opposite Angelina Jolie and Sam Rockwell, a voice role in The Angry Birds Movie 2 and The Turning. She is repped by UTA, Thirty Three Management and Hansen Jacobson.
When she’s not acting, Prince enjoys donating her time to a number of charities aimed at ending homelessness, including the Community Hope Center in Osceola County, FL. In addition to volunteering, she likes to visit theme parks, watch superhero films and hang out with her brother.
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