Michael K. Williams Joins ABC Limited Series ‘When We Rise’

Michael K. Williams, who starred in Boardwalk Empire, The Wire and, more recently, Hap and Leonard on Sundance TV, has joined the cast of ABC’s limited series When We Rise. Williams plays community organizer Ken Jones in the project, while Ivory Aquino too has been added to the cast, as transgender activist Cecilia Chung.

When We Rise is a seven-part series about a family of LGBT pioneers that features several notables in the cast, including Rosie O’Donnell, Whoopi Goldberg and David Hyde Pierce.

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When We Rise is written and created by Dustin Lance Black and produced by ABC Studios. The event series is executive produced by Black, whose credits include Milk and Big Love; Laurence Mark, Bruce Cohen and Gus Van Sant.

Filmmaker Van Sant will direct the two-hour premiere.

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Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.