Emmy and Tony Award winning actress Cherry Jones of Paris is starring in the limited series, “Five Days at Memorial” which explores the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The first three episodes of “Five Days at Memorial” begin on Apple TV+ on Aug. 12. The remaining episodes are released every Friday following the premiere.
In an interview with our stations, Jones said, “We’re all really proud to have worked on this one. Folks forget just how dire things were in New Orleans once the levees broke the day after Hurricane Katrina hit. And young people have no idea. The series is adapted from the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Sheri Fink’s book FIVE DAYS AT MEMORIAL. It covers a broad swath of issues but first and foremost reminds us that our healthcare professionals are our frontline soldiers and need to be treated and revered as such. They deal everyday with increasingly fraught and ethically difficult situations. They need our understanding and backing.”
Jones attended the premiere of the series in Los Angeles Monday night.
Jones is not the only area actor to appear in the series: W. Earl Brown of Golden Pond, Ky. is also starring in the production. Jones portrays Susan Mulderick, a hospital nursing director and head of the emergency preparedness committee who becomes the designated incident commander when Hurricane Katrina hits. Brown portrays Dr. Ewing Cook.
“Five Days at Memorial” stars Vera Farmiga, Robert Pine, and Jones.
The eight-episode series is based on actual events, chronicling the impact of the hurricane — which quickly became one of the deadliest natural disasters in the country’s history — and its aftermath on Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans.
The series was written and directed by John Ridley and Carlton Cuse and was filmed in New Orleans and Toronto.
“We were lucky enough to get a wonderful cast to collaborate with in the telling of that story,” Cuse said. “And we really tried to have the casting of the show be authentic. We put a lot of effort into what I would say is sort of the naturalism of the casting to make everybody feel like they belonged in this world. When you have Vera Farmiga and Cherry Jones, you can’t really go wrong. They’re both so brilliant.”
Photo courtesy of Apple TV+