Helen Hunt joins 'Blindspotting' series; production underway

Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Helen Hunt has signed on to star in Starz's upcoming Blindspotting television series, a spinoff based on the 2018 film of the same name from Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal.

Hunt will portray Rainey, the mother of Casal's character Miles who is incarcerated. The show will follow star Jasmine Cephas Jones who is reprising her role as Ashley from the film.

Ashley is forced to live with Rainey, her mother-in-law, after Miles is arrested.

"It is such an honor to have Helen Hunt in this series. We became friends after she tweeted about her love of the film and we have long looked for a project to do together. She has been our first choice for the character Rainey since we dreamed this show up," Casal said in a statement Wednesday.

Production began this week in California on the half-hour comedy series, Starz also announced.

Benjamin Earl Turner, Atticus Woodward, Jaylen Barron and Candace Nicholas-Lippman also star.

Casal is the show-runner and will reprise his role of Miles from the movie.

Hamilton icon and Snowpiercer actor Diggs -- who co-wrote, produced and acted in the Blindspotting film -- co-wrote and is producing its TV spin-off.

"This story, the incredible cast and the production are a dream. We are making the kind of show we have long hoped to see on television, centered around just some of the amazing kinds of characters the Bay Area has to offer," Casal said in a statement Tuesday.

Production on film and television projects recently resumed with strict safety protocols in place after months of shutdowns in the United States amid the coronavirus pandemic.