Black Panther Star Lupita Nyong’o Departs New Apple TV+ Series

Black Panther standout Lupita Nyong’o has stepped away from Apple TV+’s Lady in the Lake, which hails from executive producer Natalie Portman. Portman, who plays the series’ other lead role, will remain on board. The series also stars Y’Lan Noel, Mikey Madison and Brett Gelman, and was developed for television by director Alma Har’el and Man in the High Castle producer Dre Ryan. Lady of the Lake is adapted from the 2019 Laura Lippman novel of the same name. 

This is the second recent high-profile adaptation of a fairly recent novel to make waves at Apple TV+. The streamer recently picked up The Last Days of Ptolemy Gray, which starred Samuel L. Jackson. Suddenly left without his trusted caretaker, Ptolemy Grey is assigned to the care of orphaned teenager Robyn. When thy learn about a treatment that will restore Ptolemy’s dementia-addled memories, it because a journey toward shocking truths.

Here’s the logline for Lady in the Lake, per Variety:

Set in 1960s Baltimore, the series centers on Maddie Schwartz (Portman), a housewife and mother who is pushed by an unsolved murder to reinvent her life as an investigative journalist. The case sets her on a collision course with Cleo Sherwood, a hard-working woman juggling motherhood, many jobs and a passionate commitment to advancing Baltimore’s Black progressive agenda.

Nyong’o was set to play Sherwood. The production team is searching for a new lead now. Lady of the Lake is currently in production.

“People will ask me, ‘Are you excited to go back?’ Excitement isn’t the word. I feel like I’m in a very pensive and meditative state when it comes to Black Panther 2. His passing is still extremely raw for me,” Nyong’o said in a recent interview. “And I can’t even begin to imagine what it will be like to step on set and not have him there… But at the same time we have a leader in Ryan, who feels very much like we do, who feels the loss in a very, very real way as well.”

“And his idea, the way which he has reshaped the second movie is so respectful of the loss we’ve all experienced as a cast and as a world,” she added. “So it feels spiritually and emotionally correct to do this. And hopefully, what I do look forward to, is getting back together and honoring what he started with us and holding his light through it. Because he left us a lot of light that we’re still going to be bathing in. I know that for sure.”

Nyong’o’s departure was first reported by Variety.