Annaleigh Ashford To Star In CBS Comedy Pilot ‘B Positive’ From Chuck Lorre & Marco Pennette

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Annaleigh Ashford has been tapped as the female lead in B Positive, CBS’ multi-camera comedy pilot from the Mom team of Marco Pennette, Chuck Lorre and Warner Bros. TV.

Ashford’s casting involved a complex logistical puzzle and the will to make it happen of two top TV showrunners, Lorre and Ryan Murphy. She co-stars as Paula Jones in Murphy’s Impeachment: American Horror Story, which films concurrently with B Positive. To make her new gig possible, the pilot production start date was pushed, and her dates on FX’s Impeachment were adjusted. There wasn’t a lot of wiggle room as Tony Award winner Ashford is scheduled to segue into the London production of Sunday in the Park with George opposite Jake Gyllenhaal later in the spring.

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Written by Pennette, B Positive centers on Drew, a newly divorced dad faced with finding a kidney donor who is at the end of his rope when he runs into Gina (Ashford), a rough-around-the edges woman from his past who volunteers her own. Together they form an unlikely bond and begin a journey that will change both of their lives.

Ashford’s Gina is a working-class woman who is larger than life in every sense – most importantly, her heart. She lives in her mother’s basement, drives a senior citizen van for a living, and makes rash decisions, including giving Drew her kidney.

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Pennette and Lorre executive produce. Warner Bros. Television produces with Lorre’s studio-based Chuck Lorre Productions.

Ashford’s other credits include Murphy’s Versace: American Crime Story for FX as well as Netflix’s Unbelievable and her breakout role on Showtime’s Masters of Sex, both produced by Timberman-Beverly.

Ashford, who won a Tony for You Can’t Take It With You, is repped by ICM Partners, Beth Rosner Management and Schreck Rose.

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