Sally Field to play Lakers owner Jerry Buss’ mother and consigliere Jessie in mini-series about the team’s Showtime Era of the 1980s starring John C. Reilly
Sally Field has been cast in an upcoming HBO mini-series about the Los Angeles Lakers’ Showtime Era of the 1980s.
The 74-year-old Oscar winner will be playing the mother and consigliere of Jerry Buss who owned the team at the time, Variety reports.
John C. Reilly will be playing Jerry amid a cast that includes Adrien Brody as basketball player Pat Riley and Jason Clarke as onetime Lakers coach Jerry West.
thespian: Sally Field has been cast in an upcoming HBO mini-series about the Los Angeles Lakers’ Showtime Era of the 1980s; Sally is pictured arriving at the 2019 Oliver Awards
Rising actors Quincy Isaiah and Solomon Hughes will respectively be playing Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who were the Showtime Era’s top star players.
Sally’s character Jessie Buss was divorced from her son’s father while raising him during a period that saw them move from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles to Wyoming.
When Jerry rose to his position at the Lakers his mother looked after his money and became one of his principal sources of counsel.
Who’s who: John C. Reilly (right) will be starring as Jerry Buss (left) who owned the Lakers at the time while Sally will be playing Jerry’s mother Jessie Buss
Icons: Rising actors Quincy Isaiah and Solomon Hughes will respectively play Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; Kareem (left) and Magic (right) are pictured together in 2012
Sally has been making a grand return to TV lately – last year she starred on the first season of Jason Segal’s anthology show Dispatches From Elsewhere.
Two years prior she had a main role on the Netflix mini-series Maniac starring Jonah Hill and Emma Stone – a remake of a Norwegian program.
Sally first rose to stardom in the 1960s as a TV actress with performances on such programs as Gidget and The Flying Nun.
Back at it: Sally has been making a grand return to TV lately – last year she starred on the first season of Jason Segal’s anthology show Dispatches From Elsewhere (pictured)
Her film projects over the last decade have included the acclaimed 2015 indie dramedy Hello My Name Is Doris and the 2012 Steven Spielberg film Lincoln.
Lincoln earned Sally her latest Academy Award nomination which she got for playing Mary Todd Lincoln opposite Daniel Day-Lewis as America’s 16th president.
Although she did not win the Oscar that year she has won on two previous occasions – for the 1980 film Norma Rae and the 1985 release Pieces Of The Heart.
Throwback: Sally first rose to stardom in the 1960s as a TV actress with performances on such programs as Gidget and The Flying Nun (pictured)