Chase Sui Wonders has joined the upcoming “City on Fire” series at Apple, Variety has learned exclusively.
The series is based on the book of the same name by Garth Risk Hallberg. In “City on Fire,” NYU student Samantha (Wonders) is shot in Central Park on the Fourth of July, 2003. Samantha is alone; there are no witnesses and very little physical evidence. Her friends’ band is playing her favorite downtown club but she leaves to meet someone, promising to return. She never does. As the crime against Samantha is investigated, she’s revealed to be the crucial connection between a series of mysterious citywide fires, the downtown music scene, and a wealthy uptown real estate family fraying under the strain of the many secrets they keep.
Wonders joins previously announced cast member Wyatt Oleff, who will play Charlie, a friend of Samantha’s who is struggling to cope with the death of his father on 9/11 two years earlier. After she is shot, he stops at nothing to unravel the mystery of what happened.
Wonders was most recently seen in the HBO Max series “Generation.” Prior to that, she appeared in the Apple film “On the Rocks” alongside Rashida Jones and Bill Murray and in the HBO series “Betty.” Her upcoming projects include the film “Bodies Bodies Bodies,” the cast of which also includes Lee Pace, Pete Davidson, and Amandla Stenberg. Wonders is also a writer and director, having co-written and co-directed the film “A Trivial Exclusion.”
She is repped by Untitled Entertainment, UTA, Sloane Offer, and Shelter PR.
“City on Fire” is written and executive produced by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, with the duo also serving as co-showrunners. They executive produce under their Fake Empire banner, which is under a first-look deal at Apple. Jesse Peretz will executive produce as well as direct the first two episodes of the first season. Fake Empire’s Lis Rowinski is co-executive producer.
