'Girlboss' Star Britt Robertson Lands Lead in ShondaLand's Legal Drama 'For the People' [VIDEO]
Netflix's "Girlboss" might have abruptly ended but its star Britt Robertson bounces back with a new show on ABC. The actress landed the lead in the legal drama "For the People," which comes from Shonda Rhimes, the creator of "Grey's Anatomy."
Robertson reportedly replaces Britne Oldford for the part of Sandra. She is a budding public defender in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) Federal Court, also known as "The Mother Court."
Oldford already shot the pilot episode and she's been featured in the teaser. The actress, however, confirmed in May that the show will be moving on without her. The show will have to do a pilot reshoot with Robertson.
"For the People" will follow new lawyers like Sandra who are tasked to represent high-profile cases. Paul William Davies created the series for ShondaLand and Don Todd will serve as showrunner.
"For the People" will also star Ben Rappaport (Seth), Ben Shenkman (Roger), Wesam Keesh (Jay), Susannah Flood (Kate), Anna Deavere Smith (Tina) and Vondie Curtis-Hall (Judge William).
ABC has not scheduled the series in their TV calendar yet but a midseason premiere is likely.
Robertson has always had luck top-billing new TV shows. Before "For the People" and "Girlboss," the actress also led series like "The Secret Circle" on The CW and "Under the Dome" on CBS. Robertson also worked with big-name Hollywood stars like George Clooney on "Tomorrowland," Julia Roberts in "Mother's Day," Eddie Murphy in "Mr. Church" and Steve Carrell in "Dan in Real Life."
But the 27-year-old actress, who's been in the acting business since she was 16, has been playing high school and young adult roles for much of her career, especially in her TV shows. "For the People" should finally showcase her more mature side.
"For the most part, I'm trying to cut the high school out of my career at this point," Robertson told The Charlotte Observer while promoting "A Dog's Purpose" in early January.