What You Need to Know About ‘When We Rise,’ Dustin Lance Black’s New LGBT Miniseries
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Tonight, ABC premieres the new miniseries When We Rise, written and created by Dustin Lance Black.
The seven-part miniseries will chronicle the history of the LGBT rights movement, from its origins in San Francisco to present day. It will focus on the personal and political struggles of a diverse group of men and women from the LGBT community. The series is partially inspired by activist Cleve Jones’s memoir When We Rise: My Life in the Movement.
When We Rise begins Feb. 27 and airs through March 3.
Meet the 5 activists profiled in the series and the actors who play them:
Aquino, who plays Chung, is a transgender actress, but producers and casting agents didn’t know when they initially called her in for the part. It wasn’t until she came out in a note that they realized she was trans.
“I wrote them a note saying, ‘Thank you for having me. It would be an honor to be part of the project,’” she says. “And I inserted in there, ‘I just want to make sure that you know that I’m trans.’”
There are quite a lot of other stars slated to appear during the series. This list includes names like Whoopi Goldberg, Rosie O’Donnell, David Hyde Pierce, Denis O’Hare and Willam Belli.
