Anna Paquin to Star in Reese Witherspoon-Produced ABC Pilot ‘Broken’

Anna Paquin will topline ABC’s drama pilot from scribe Meaghan Oppenheimer and exec producers Reese Witherspoon and Bruna Papandrea, Variety has learned.

The project that had formerly been untitled is now called “Broken.”

“Broken” follows a ruthless Dallas divorce attorney, Gemma (Paquin), as her life begins to unravel when her emotionally damaged, love-addicted sister resurfaces, triggering self-destructive tendencies and exposing long-hidden family secrets. Paquin’s character is described as one of the most sought-after divorce attorneys in Dallas.

Having made a fortune off of the heartbreak of wealthy Texans, she has no desire to look back, but beneath her carefully constructed facade are layers of vulnerability, self-destruction and deeply buried trauma.

Paquin joins a cast that includes T.R. Knight, Blair Underwood and Penelope Ann Miller. Underwood will play James, Gemma’s boss and sometimes lover; Knight will play Mark, who is competing with Gemma for the same position; and Miller will play Elizabeth Hamilton, the wife of a Texas oil billionaire who is seeking revenge after having been left for a woman 20 years younger.

The soapy drama hails from Witherspoon and Papandrea’s Pacific Standard shingle and ABC Studios. Oppenheimer (“We Are Your Friends”) will serve as a co-exec producer on the pilot, which she penned.

“Broken” marks Paquin’s return to television as a series regular, after her starring role as Sookie Stackhouse on HBO’s “True Blood.” She will next star in A&E’s hotly anticipated “Roots” revival miniseries, which debuts this Memorial Day.

– THR