FX’s The Sterling Affairs has added Cleopatra Coleman (Dopesick) to the roster, joining previously announced cast members Ed O’Neill, Laurence Fishburne, and Jacki Weaver. Coleman will portray V. Stiviano, Donald Sterling’s mistress and the catalyst for his collapse as NBA owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. Colman is joined by Kelly AuCoin (Billions), who will play Los Angeles Clippers president Andy Roeser, Austin Scott (A Jazzman’s Blues), J. Alphonse Nicholson (P-Valley), Sheldon “Shel” Bailey (Shameless), Sarunas J. Jackson (Insecure), and Charlie McElveen (The Deuce), who all play NBA players involved in the Stirling scandal. FX’s dramatic behind-the-scenes look at Sterling (O’Neill) and the Clippers’ players and popular coach Doc Rivers (Fishburne) trying to bring a championship to a historically awful organisation amid the repercussions is based on the ESPN 30 for 30 podcasts of the same name.
During a power battle between his over-60-year-long wife Shelly Sterling (Weaver) and his lover Stiviano, Sterling’s historically bigoted conduct surfaced. The Clippers were a formidable squad back then, including such All-Stars as Blake Griffin (Scott), Chris Paul (Nicholson), and D’Andre Jordan (Bailey), as well as Matt Barnes (Jackson), and JJ Reddick (McElveen), among others. Gina Welch, whose most recent work is the FX smash Under the Banner of Heaven, is responsible for both the writing and executive producing of the limited series. She is joined as an executive producer on The Sterling Affairs by Ramona Shelburne, Zanne Devine, and Color Force’s Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson.
The first three episodes of this miniseries, out of a total of six, will be directed by Kevin Bray. Coleman became well-known with her role alongside Will Forte in The Last Man on Earth, and she has since established herself as a reliable performer with roles in In the Shadow of the Moon, a Netflix original film, and the romantic comedy The Right One. Her most recent role was as Grace Pell in Hulu’s Emmy-nominated miniseries Dopesick, in which she appeared for a total of five episodes. Her next projects, including the Lionsgate horror film Cobweb with Lizzy Caplan and Anthony Starr and Zack Snyder’s much-anticipated Rebel Moon, are particularly noteworthy. In addition to his role as “Dollar” Bill Stearn on Billions, AuCoin has had significant roles in the programmes The Girl from Plainville and WeCrashed.
Scott has been making waves on Broadway as of late, and he will next be seen in the Toronto premiere of Tyler Perry’s A Jazzman’s Blues, whereas Nicholson is most known for his role as Lil’ Murdah on the critically acclaimed Starz series P-Valley. Both Bailey and Jackson have extensive backgrounds in basketball; Bailey was LeBron James’ body double in Space Jam 2, and he has played professionally on many continents, while Jackson is a co-host of Certified Buckets, a popular basketball and culture podcast. McElveen fills out the cast with his work in films like The Deuce and Evil, as well as a future role in True Love. There is currently no set release date for The Sterling Affairs.