Emmy winner Barry Pepper has been cast opposite Jeremy Strong in 9/12, an upcoming six-episode Paramount+ limited series dramatising the legal battle to secure compensation for 9/11 first responders who fell seriously ill after the attacks. The casting fills out the lead pairing for a high-profile project written and directed by Tobias Lindholm and co-written by Frank Pugliese, which frames the real events as a "David vs. Goliath" fight for accountability.

Pepper will play Coach, a former NYPD officer and first responder suffering from leukaemia caused by his work at ground zero, who is reluctant to sue the city but agrees to become the face of the lawsuit to help other victims. Strong, previously announced, plays class action lawyer Jason Smith, who takes on entrenched institutions in a near-decade-long fight that ultimately secured almost $1 billion in compensation; both characters are fictional composites inspired by real people. Produced by Paramount Television Studios and Sister, the series is executive produced by Strong, Lindholm and Pugliese. Pepper's recent credits include Lawmen: Bass Reeves and the film Bring Him to Me, and he won an Emmy for playing Robert F. Kennedy in The Kennedys.