Whoopi Goldberg and Rosie O’Donnell will be joining the cast of ABC’s gay miniseries “When We Rise.”
Deadline reports Goldberg will play Pat Norman, the first openly gay employee of the San Francisco Health Department. O’Donnell will appear as Del Martin, co-founder of the first lesbian organization in the country.
Along with Goldberg and O’Donnell, Denis O’Hare and David Hyde Pierce are slated to make guest appearances in the eight-hour miniseries chronicling the gay rights movement. O’Hare will portray Jim Foster, an openly gay Democratic party organizer, and Pierce is Dr. Jones, Cleve Jones’ father.
Michael K. Williams and Ivory Aquino have also been added to the main cast. Williams will play African American community organizer Ken Jones and Aquino will play transgender activist Cecilia Chung. Rachel Griffiths, Mary-Louise Parker and Guy Pearce are also set to star.
The show is currently filming in Vancouver and San Francisco.
Dustin Lance Black wrote and executive produced the miniseries with Laurence Mark, Gus Van Sant and Bruce Cohen also on board as executive producers. A premiere date for the two-hour season premiere, directed by Van Sant, has yet to be announced.
