Sterling K. Brown and other actors cast in limited series The Trees

An all-star cast is about to assemble for a promising new limited series based on Percival Everett's acclaimed novel The Trees (2022). According to sources, a fierce bidding war is underway for the project The Trees, which stars Sterling K. Brown (Paradise), Da'Vine Joy Randolph (Only Murders in the Building) and Winston Duke (Black Panther) among others.


Sterling K. Brown

The Trees is a fast-paced thriller that delves deeply into racism and police brutality in the United States. The series opens with a series of brutal murders in the town of Money, Mississippi.

Two detectives from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation arrive and encounter resistance from local authorities and racist residents. Strikingly, in each crime, not one, but two bodies are found—and one always resembles Emmett Till, the young victim of a notorious lynching in 1955.

The detectives suspect these are acts of retaliation, but soon discover that similar murders are occurring across the country. Their investigation leads them to a local root doctor who has been documenting every lynching in America for years, thus uncovering an indelible historical trail that refuses to be buried.

While casting hasn't been officially confirmed, Sterling K. Brown and Winston Duke are expected to play the two detectives. Brown and producer Selwyn Sefyu Hinds previously worked together on Washington Black, another limited series (for Hulu).


Winston Duke

The screenplay for The Trees is being written by Marcus Gardley, known for The Chi, who also serves as executive producer.

Sterling K. Brown is a three-time Emmy winner (This Is Us, American Crime Story) and recently nominated for an Oscar for American Fiction. He is currently a double Emmy nominee for 2025 for his work on Paradise on Hulu.

Da’Vine Joy Randolph won an Oscar for The Holdovers and is also known for Only Murders in the Building and Dolemite Is My Name. She has several upcoming films, including Eternity and The Gallerist.

Winston Duke broke through as M’Baku in Black Panther and has appeared in films such as Us, The Fall Guy, and Nine Days (which he also produced).