Matthew Rhys is heading back to the courtroom as the Perry Mason actor is set to join Rachel Brosnahan (Superman) and Jack Reynor (The Mummy) in Presumed Innocent season 2.
The new season of the Apple TV+ legal drama will be based on Dissection of a Murder by Jo Murray, which will be published next year. Although the logline for the series remains under wraps, the synopsis for the novel reads: “When Leila Reynolds is handed her first murder case, she’s shocked at how high-profile it is: the murder of a well-respected, well-known judge. This shouldn’t be the kind of case she’s leading; it’s way beyond her expertise. But the defendant, Jack Millman, is clear. He wants her, and only her.” Brosnahan plays the defence attorney, Rhys plays her husband, the prosecutor on the case, and Reynor plays her client.
The first season of Presumed Innocent was based on Scott Turow’s 1987 novel of the same name. Jake Gyllenhaal starred as a prosecutor who becomes the prime suspect in the murder of his colleague with whom he was having an affair. The series was intended to be a one-and-done miniseries, but its success led Apple to renew it for a second season. Our own Alex Maidy was a big fan.
“Presumed Innocent is an excellent drama designed for adults that does not try to be a psychosexual thriller or a procedural mystery but incorporates elements of both in an engaging and emotionally powerful story,” he wrote in his review. “Heavy on the legal jargon and more technically focused than a John Grisham story, Scott Turow’s novel takes what could have been a pulpy tale along Disclosure or Fatal Attraction. Instead, it gets elevated from pop fiction to more, thanks to David E. Kelley’s character-centric approach.“
Rhys will next be seen starring alongside Claire Danes in Netflix’s The Beast in Me. The synopsis for the mystery series reads: “Since the tragic death of her young son, acclaimed author Aggie Wiggs (Danes) has receded from public life, unable to write, a ghost of her former self. But she finds an unlikely subject for a new book when the house next door is bought by Nile Jarvis (Rhys), a famed and formidable real estate mogul who was once the prime suspect in his wife’s disappearance. At once horrified and fascinated by this man, Aggie finds herself compulsively hunting for the truth – chasing his demons while fleeing her own – in a game of cat and mouse that might turn deadly.” The series will debut on November 13.