Emilia Jones Lands Lead Role in Netflix's 'The Retrievals' Limited Series

Emilia Jones has been cast in a lead role in The Retrievals, a Netflix limited series based on the New York Times and Serial Productions podcast of the same name, according to Variety.

Jones will play Gabby Clemente, a New Haven bartender and student teacher who discovers that a nurse at a fertility clinic stole vast amounts of fentanyl — leaving patients to undergo egg retrieval procedures without anaesthesia. Her character goes on to lead a legal battle against Yale University. The series logline, as reported by Variety, describes an unlikely community of IVF patients who come together to crusade against the university after being operated on without pain relief.

Netflix first announced The Retrievals at its Upfront presentation in May 2026, where Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria unveiled the title alongside new series Barbaric, Myron Bolitar, Calabasas, and an untitled Nick Cannon docuseries (Netflix). A limited series, meaning the story is designed to run for a single season rather than continuing year to year, The Retrievals now has its lead.

Molly Smith Metzler serves as writer, executive producer, and showrunner — the person who oversees the writers' room and day-to-day creative decisions on a series. Lila Neugebauer will direct the pilot and executive produce. The production comes from LuckyChap and Quiet Coyote, with executive producers including Margot Robbie and Tom Ackerley through LuckyChap, Colin McKenna, Dani Gorin, Caitlin Roper of the New York Times, and podcast host Susan Burton (Variety).

The original podcast, hosted by Susan Burton and produced by Serial Productions, featured a dozen women speaking about their traumatic experiences at the Yale Fertility Center. It is credited to Burton, Laura Starecheski, Julie Snyder, and Carla Pallone on the New York Times column page.

For Jones, the role adds to a deepening relationship with Netflix. She previously starred in the streamer's Locke & Key for three seasons and is set to appear in the upcoming Netflix films The 99'ers and Bad Bridgets. Beyond Netflix, she recently starred in the HBO series Task and is known for the film CODA, The Running Man, and Tony, the Anthony Bourdain biopic (Variety).

No premiere date for The Retrievals has been announced.