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Corporate fixer Catriona Vail put Viola Davis at centre of new thriller
Developed over time first seen 3 months ago
Viola Davis has been cast to star in "Ascent," a new corporate-thriller series greenlit at Paramount+. She plays Catriona Vail, an elite corporate fixer who is forced to turn her ruthless professional skills against her usual clients to protect her estranged daughter when she is put in danger, set against a backdrop of global corporate crisis management.
The series was created by John Logan, known for "Skyfall" and "Gladiator," who serves as executive producer and showrunner alongside Michael Aguilar; Davis and her husband Julius Tennon will executive produce via their JuVee Productions banner, with Paramount Television Studios producing. Filming is set to begin on the Paramount Lot in Los Angeles in 2027. The casting adds to a run of female-led projects at Paramount+, following a "Clueless" sequel series and the legal drama "Discretion" starring Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning, and comes as Davis, a four-time Oscar nominee and Emmy and Tony winner, continues to expand her television slate.
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In short
- Viola Davis cast as lead in Paramount+ thriller "Ascent"
- Plays a corporate fixer protecting her estranged daughter
- Created by John Logan; filming begins in LA in 2027
How this story developed
- 3 months ago Viola Davis has been cast to lead "Ascent," a new Paramount+ thriller series created by John Logan in which she plays corporate fixer Catriona Vail, with filming set to start in Los Angeles in 2027.
Explained simply
Viola Davis is a two-time Oscar nominee and Emmy and Tony winner known for roles in "How to Get Away with Murder" and "The Woman King." She and her husband, Julius Tennon, run the production company JuVee Productions, which regularly develops projects with strong female leads. Paramount+ is the streaming service behind the new series, which has yet to begin filming.
The show's creator, John Logan, is a screenwriter with a track record of big-budget, high-tension storytelling, having written films such as "Skyfall" and "Gladiator." A "corporate fixer" is someone hired by companies to handle sensitive problems and crises discreetly, often operating in morally grey territory, which sets up the premise of a skilled professional whose personal life collides with her dangerous line of work.
This casting is part of a wider pattern of Paramount+ investing in scripted dramas built around prominent actresses, alongside other announced projects such as a "Clueless" sequel series and "Discretion," starring Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning. It reflects ongoing competition among streaming platforms to attract subscribers with star-led original content.
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Originally published by Variety as “Viola Davis to Star in Paramount+ Thriller Series ‘Ascent’”.