EXCLUSIVE: Pearl Mackie (Doctor Who, The Diplomat), Chizzy Akudolu (Tommy & Tuppence, Holby City) and Kerry Howard (Him and Her, Bad Apples) are among the six actresses making up the cast of Grace Link‘s indie TV series Locker Room Talk.
Link (Geek Girl, Bulletproof), Florence Andrews (House of Gucci, School of Rock) and Rhianna Merralls (Plebs) will round out the lead cast.
Locker Room Talk will unfold entirely inside a women’s changing room after a weekly yoga class. Link is the showrunner and creator of the seven-part comedy-drama, whose episodes will run for 10 minutes and drop of YouTube. Each episode will include candid conversations about body image, health, friendship and the contradictions of modern womanhood.
Link and Chloe Luo from Bag Lady Films and Amanda Boyle are the executive producers, and production is slated to begin in London ahead of a May release. Boyle is also directing.
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Partnering with the series are women’s health and wellbeing charities The Pachamama Project and BRC Chat, which producers say reflects “commitment to amplifying conversations around women’s bodies, healthcare and lived experience.” Molton Brown is a sponsor.
“This ensemble has the wit and raw magnetism of women I’d love to find myself sitting next to on a moist wooden bench at 7am,” said Link. “Amanda and I couldn’t have wished for a more big-hearted, full-blooded, firecracker of a cast. The chemistry between them was instant and electric; they dive into the topics we too often whisper about with wonder, mischief and a conspiratorial glee.”
“We always knew this show would live or die on the cast,” added Boyle. “You need characters you’d actually want to addictively be stuck in a changing room with, and actors who are funny right down to their bones but can still break your heart.
“Pearl, Chizzy, Grace, Flo and Kerry bring all of that, each in completely different ways. Together they’ve got this chaotic, loveable, slightly feral energy, and watching them rip into Grace’s scripts is a total riot.”
Mackie is represented by United Agents and Curate, Akudolu is repped InterTalent, Howard is represented by Curtis Brown, Andrews by Grantham Hazeldine, Link is repped by Independent Talent and Boyle is represented by Casarotto Ramsay & Associates.