Starz Rounds Out Cast for Untitled Black Rodeo Drama Series Set in Southeast Texas

Starz has added five series regulars to its untitled Black rodeo drama, filling out the principal cast of an eight-episode series ordered back in April and set in the rodeo country of Southeast Texas.

Shannon Wallace, Curtiss Cook, Lauren E. Banks, Liv Symone and Jason Dirden have all joined the show as series regulars, according to Deadline. They round out a cast led by DeWanda Wise as Anaya Clarke-Reagan, Tian Richards as Rodney Clarke, and Marcus Mitchell as Julius Calhoun, all previously announced.

Wallace plays Sebastian Clarke, a former bull-riding champion whose career ended after a near-fatal arena accident. The character is recently divorced — a detail that ties directly into Banks's role as Wynter, Sebastian's ex-wife and the mother and coach of their son, Driver. Cook steps in as Elias Clarke, the estranged father of the Clarke siblings and co-founder of the family rodeo (Deadline).

Symone plays Jojo Calhoun, the younger sister of Mitchell's Julius Calhoun and a local bull-riding star and barrel racer. Dirden takes on Greg Reagan, a District Court judge and husband of Wise's Anaya (Deadline).

The series is centred on three siblings bound by the legacy their mother built, set in a part of Texas where rodeo is a way of life. Kirk A. Moore serves as showrunner and executive producer. The producing team also includes Mark Johnson and Myki Bajaj of Gran Via Productions, and Tony Hernandez, Elise Henderson and Lilly Burns of Counterpart Studios. Giovanna Desselle, vice president of original programming, and Christina Jokanovich, senior vice president of original programming, oversee the series for Starz (Variety).

The rodeo drama holds a particular place in Starz's broader strategy. It is the network's second self-owned series since its 2025 spinoff from Lionsgate — a structural shift that means Starz owns the intellectual property outright rather than licensing it from a studio. The first was Fightland, a British boxing drama executive produced by Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, which premiered on 31 July (Variety).

What makes the cast-building worth watching is the family architecture underneath it. The Clarke siblings, their estranged father, an ex-wife coaching their son, and a judge married into the family — these are the load-bearing relationships the eight episodes will hang on. Moore, whose writing credits include This Is Us and For All Mankind, now has his ensemble. The next signal to watch for is a production start date, which Starz has not yet announced.