What The Dead Know: Orange Is the New Black’s Taylor Schilling to star in Wolf Entertainment’s upcoming NBC drama pilot - here’s what we know

What The Dead Know has picked Taylor Schilling to be its lead, and NBC is clearly betting on this new crime drama pilot. The Orange Is the New Black star will play a death investigator named Ava Ledger, a woman who works with the NYPD to break down difficult cases by studying the dead.

Created under Wolf Entertainment, What The Dead Know is based on former New York City medical examiner Barbara Butcher’s memoir, which means the story does take some amount of inspiration from real experiences from within the system.

Taylor Schilling leads in NBC’s What The Dead Know as death investigator Ava Ledger

In What The Dead Know, Taylor Schilling plays a woman named Ava Ledger who is a death investigator who knows exactly how to handle a body. She is also someone who struggles when it comes to dealing with people.

That contrast is what makes up most of the series. Ava is described as a highly intelligent person and as someone who is always alert. She’s also someone who notices the smallest detail at a crime scene, and when the NYPD hits a wall on its toughest cases, she steps in to read what the dead are saying.

The pilot is written by Beth Rinehart, known for her work on FBI: Most Wanted. The story draws directly from Barbara Butcher’s memoir, which means the show will be following real experiences from inside New York’s medical examiner system.

What The Dead Know has been created under Wolf Entertainment, and Dick Wolf will be the executive producer along with Tom Thayer, Peter Jankowski, and Anastasia Puglisi. Kevin Plunkett, Rebecca McGill, and Butcher will also be co-executive producers, and Fred Berner will direct as well as executive produce the show.

From Orange Is the New Black to network crime drama lead

For a lot of fans, Taylor Schilling will always be known for her Emmy-nominated role as Piper Chapman on Orange Is the New Black because Chapman put her on the map.

Ever since then, she has moved between streaming and network projects, and she recently appeared in Season 2 of Poker Face, the anthology series created by Rian Johnson, and also took on a role in Accused.

On the film side, she starred in Queen of Bones, and she also led Dear Edward for Apple TV+.

Now with What The Dead Know, she returns to play a lead role on a major broadcast network via NBC. Schilling will once again anchor a show that revolves entirely around her character’s choices and her instincts.

What The Dead Know brings Taylor Schilling back to a lead role on network television with a story focused on crime, investigation, and the weight that comes along with this kind of a “crime job.”

The pilot pulls from a real-life source and places it onto a fictional lead character working alongside the NYPD. With Dick Wolf and his team producing and NBC backing the project, the drama already has strong support.

Now the focus shifts to the pilot’s next step and whether it moves to a full series. If it does, fans can expect a character-driven procedural built around Ava Ledger’s work and personal struggles.

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