American Crime (TV series)

American Crime is an American anthology crime drama television series created by John Ridley that aired on ABC from March 5, 2015, to April 30, 2017. The first season centers on race, class, and gender politics as it follows the lives of the participants in a trial who are forever changed during the legal process.

The series follows an anthology format with each season featuring a self-contained story with new characters, often played by the same group of actors. Actors featured prominently in all three seasons include Felicity Huffman, Timothy Hutton, Richard Cabral, Benito Martinez, Lili Taylor, and Regina King; while Elvis Nolasco and Connor Jessup have starring roles in two seasons.

The series was renewed for a second season in May 2015. The second season, which premiered on-demand on December 17, 2015, and premiered on ABC on January 6, 2016, In May 2016, ABC renewed the series for a third season, which premiered on March 12, 2017. On May 11, 2017, ABC cancelled the series after three seasons.

All three seasons of American Crime received critical acclaim. In 2015, the series received ten Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including for Outstanding Limited Series, Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special (Ridley), Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie (Huffman), Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie (Hutton), Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie (Cabral), and a win for Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie (King). In 2016, it received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including another for Outstanding Limited Series, with Huffman and Taylor being both nominated for Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie and King receiving a second win for Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie.

Overview
The first season takes place in Modesto, California, where a war veteran becomes the victim of a home invasion gone wrong and the lives of four people are forever changed after each one is connected to the crime.

The second season takes place in Indianapolis, Indiana, where the co-captains of a private school's basketball team are accused of sexually assaulting a male classmate and posting photographs of the incident online.

The third season takes place in Alamance County, North Carolina, where five people struggle to survive in a place where the American Dream comes with a price.

Main

 * Felicity Huffman as Barbara "Barb" Hanlon
 * Timothy Hutton as Russ Skokie
 * W. Earl Brown as Thomas "Tom" Carlin
 * Richard Cabral as Hector Tontz
 * Caitlin Gerard as Aubry Taylor
 * Benito Martinez as Alonzo Gutiérrez
 * Penelope Ann Miller as Eve Carlin
 * Elvis Nolasco as Carter Nix
 * Johnny Ortiz as Anthony "Tony" Gutiérrez

Recurring
• Regina King as Aliyah Shadeed (born Doreen Nix), Carter Nix's sister and a convert to Islam

• David Hoflin as Mark Skokie, Barb and Russ' younger son, on leave from the Army

• Gwendoline Yeo as Richelle, Mark's fiancée

• Gleendylis Inoa as Jennifer "Jenny" Gutiérrez, the sister of Tony and daughter of Alonzo Gutiérrez

• Lili Taylor as Nancy Straumberg

• Kira Pozehl as Gwendolyn "Gwen" Skokie, Matt's wife who is in a coma after being beaten during a home invasion

• Grant Merritt as Matt Skokie, Gwen's husband who was killed during a home invasion

• Bob Hess as Michael Taylor, Aubry's father

• Jennifer Savidge as Ruth Taylor, Aubry's mother

• Jesse Borrego as Oscar

• Joe Nemmers as Deputy D.A. Rick Soderbergh

• Brent Anderson as Detective Chuck Palmer

• Todd Terry as Jackson, defense attorney for Hector Tontz

Main

 * Felicity Huffman as Leslie Graham, the private school's manipulative principal
 * Timothy Hutton as Dan Sullivan, the school's basketball coach
 * Lili Taylor as Anne Blaine, Taylor's mother
 * Elvis Nolasco as Chris Dixon, a public school's principal
 * Trevor Jackson as Kevin LaCroix, a private school student and captain of the basketball team
 * Connor Jessup as Taylor Blaine, the sexual assault accuser
 * Joey Pollari as Eric Tanner, the closeted gay basketball player accused of sexual assault by Taylor
 * Angelique Rivera as Evy Dominguez, Taylor's girlfriend
 * Regina King as Terri LaCroix, Kevin's strict mother

Recurring
• Hope Davis as Steph Sullivan, Coach Sullivan's wife

• Faran Tahir as Rhys Bashir, the chairman of the board at Leyland

• André L. Benjamin as Michael LaCroix, Kevin's father

• Emily Bergl as Lillah Tanner, Eric's mother who seems to have a hard time accepting her son's homosexuality after he is outed.

• Christopher Stanley as Charles, a businessman and Dr. Graham's boyfriend

• Brent Anderson as Curt Tanner, Eric's father. Unlike his wife he tries to make an effort to come to terms with Eric being gay.

• Stephanie Sigman as Monica Salazar, an administrator at a public school and colleague of Dixon

• Richard Cabral as Sebastian De La Torre, a white hat computer hacker

• Lynn Blackburn as Cammy Ross, a reporter for a local media outlet

• Sky Azure Van Vliet as Becca Sullivan, Coach Sullivan's daughter and a cheerleader

• Michael Seitz as Wes Baxter, a basketball player at Leyland

• Ty Doran as Peter Tanner, Eric's brother and a student at Marshall

• Taylor John Smith as Luke

• Andre Williams as LeSean Young, a basketball player at Leyland

Main

 * Felicity Huffman as Jeanette Hesby
 * Timothy Hutton as Nicholas Coates
 * Lili Taylor as Clair Coates, Nicholas' wife
 * Connor Jessup as Coy Henson, a young American who is addicted to drugs
 * Richard Cabral as Isaac Castillo, a farm crew chief
 * Benito Martinez as Luis Salazar, a father from Mexico who wants to find his missing son
 * Regina King as Kimara Walters, a social worker who wants to have a baby

Recurring

 * Sandra Oh as Abby Tanaka
 * Cherry Jones as Laurie Ann Hesby, the matriarch of Hesby Farms
 * Tim DeKay as JD Hesby, Laurie Ann's brother.
 * Janel Moloney as Raelyn, Jeanette's sister, a single mother recently abandoned by her husband.
 * Dallas Roberts as Carson Hesby, Jeanette's husband
 * Ana Mulvoy-Ten as Shae Reese, a 17-year-old sex worker
 * Mickaëlle X. Bizet as Gabrielle Durand, a Haitian woman, the nanny of the Coates' son
 * Clayton Cardenas as Diego Castillo, Isaac's brother

Cast table
The following cast table only includes actors who appear in multiple seasons.

 List indicator(s)


 * {{legend|#ddffdd|A green cell indicates the actor as a main cast member.}}
 * {{legend|#ffe3e3|A red cell indicates the actor as a recurring cast member.}}
 * {{legend|#DAEBFF|A light blue cell indicates the actor as a guest cast member.}}
 * {{legend|lightgrey|A grey cell indicates the actor does not appear in the respective season.}}

Development and casting
In October 2013, ABC announced it was developing a drama pilot created by John Ridley. In January 2014, ABC greenlighted the pilot, and signed a deal with Ridley to direct.

Elvis Nolasco and Caitlin Gerard were the first regular members to be cast, as announced on February 14, 2014. Later Richard Cabral, Johnny Ortiz, Benito Martinez and W. Earl Brown were cast for regular supporting roles in the pilot. In early March, Timothy Hutton was cast in a lead role as Russ, and Penelope Ann Miller signed on in a supporting role of the mother of the murdered man's wife. Soon thereafter, it was announced that Felicity Huffman was cast in the lead role of Barb Skokie, Russ' stoic ex-wife and mother of the murdered young man.

Filming
The pilot episode, along with further episodes, was filmed in Austin, Texas, which substitutes for the California city of Modesto. On May 8, 2014, ABC picked up the pilot to the series for the 2014–15 television season.

Filming for the series moved to Los Angeles, California with the third season, as the show's production was awarded a California tax credit.

Critical response
All three seasons of American Crime received widespread critical acclaim, with praise going towards the writing, directing, and the performances of its cast (particularly Felicity Huffman and Regina King). On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the overall series holds a 96% rating. On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the overall series received a score of 86 out of 100.

Season 1
On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season received a rating of 94% based on 48 reviews with an average rating of 8.3 out of 10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Raw, emotional portrayals of diverse characters in dire pain, mashed up with chilling narratives and a gutsy attitude make American Crime a must-see." On Metacritic, it garnered a score of 85 out of 100, based on 35 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Deadline Hollywood critic Dominic Patten said in his review: "the 11-episode limited series marks a resounding flag planting by network television and tells cable that it doesn't own poignant drama on our small screens." Critic Ed Bark praised the performance of Felicity Huffman and wrote that she would be a favorite to win at next year's Primetime Emmy Awards.

Season 2
On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has a 95% rating based on 38 reviews with an average score of 8.1 out of 10. The site's critical consensus reads, "American Crime's intense second season infuses a complicated, topical story with genuine emotion, and patiently allows its narrative arc to develop without sacrificing momentum." On Metacritic, it has a score of 85 out of 100 based on 26 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Season 3
The third season received more acclaim than the first two seasons. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 100% rating, based on 31 reviews with an average score of 9 out of 10. The site's critical consensus reads, "American Crime offers a unique anthology series filled with surprising revelations and compelling inter-connected narratives that opt for original, emotional human commentary instead of tired arguments over current events." On Metacritic, it has a score of 90 out of 100, based on 26 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Verne Gay of Newsday called it "Another brilliant, powerful, moving season of one of TV's best."