All American (TV series) season 1

The first season of the American sports drama television series All American premiered on The CW on October 10, 2018, and ended on March 20, 2019 with a total of 16 episodes produced. The series follows South Crenshaw High School football player Spencer James (Daniel Ezra) as he is recruited by football coach Billy Baker (Taye Diggs) to come play in Beverly Hills High School. It is inspired by the life of professional American football player Spencer Paysinger, with Ezra in the lead role.

The season also starred Bre-Z, Greta Onieogou, Samantha Logan, Michael Evans Behling, Cody Christian, Karimah Westbrook, Monet Mazur, and Jalyn Hall.

Main

 * Daniel Ezra as Spencer James
 * Bre-Z as Tamia "Coop" Cooper
 * Greta Onieogou as Layla Keating
 * Samantha Logan as Olivia Baker
 * Michael Evans Behling as Jordan Baker
 * Cody Christian as Asher Adams
 * Karimah Westbrook as Grace James
 * Monet Mazur as Laura Baker
 * Jalyn Hall as Dillon James
 * Taye Diggs as Billy Baker

Recurring

 * Hunter Clowdus as JJ Parker
 * Spence Moore II as Chris
 * Demetrius Shipp Jr. as Tyrone Morris
 * Chelsea Tavares as Patience
 * Jay Reeves as Shawn Scott
 * Brent Jennings as Willy Baker
 * Emily Levine as Lucy
 * Michelle Hayden as Ripley
 * Casper Van Dien as Harold Adams
 * Mitchell Edwards as Cameron
 * Chad L. Coleman as Corey James
 * Bill Lee Brown as Alvin Washington
 * Jordan Belfi as Principal Ed Landon
 * Judith Scott as Janelle Cooper
 * James Black as Reggie Cooper
 * Kareem Grimes as Cordell "Preach" Simms
 * Michael Wayne Williams as Young Spencer James

Development
In September 2017, it was announced that the CW veteran Greg Berlanti had two pilots in development for the network, one of them inspired by the life of NFL football player Spencer Paysinger. It was also revealed that April Blair would write and executive produce the untitled project, with Berlanti and Sarah Schechter executive producing. A pilot for the potential series, then called Spencer, was ordered in January 2018. The pilot was ordered to series on May 11, 2018. On October 2, 2018, it was reported that Blair had stepped down as showrunner due to "personal reasons" and was subsequently replaced with co-executive producer Nkechi Okoro Carroll, who was also made an executive producer. On October 8, 2018, The CW ordered five additional scripts for the series. On November 8, 2018, it was announced that The CW had ordered an additional three episodes of the series, bringing the first season total up to 16 episodes.

Casting
On February 22, 2018, Taye Diggs was cast as Billy Baker, followed a week later with Samantha Logan cast as Olivia Baker, his daughter. The rest of the cast was filled out through mid-March with Bre-Z and Greta Onieogou cast on March 15, 2018 as characters Tamia Cooper and Layla Keating, respectively, with Monet Mazur, Michael Evans Behling, and Cody Christian cast the next day, to play Laura Fine-Baker, Olivia's mother; Jordan Baker, Olivia's brother; and Asher, respectively. Karimah Westbrook was cast as Grace James on March 19, 2018 and British actor Daniel Ezra was cast in the lead role of Spencer James on March 21, 2018. On May 31, 2018, Jalyn Hall was promoted to a series regular as Dillon, Spencer's little brother.