Gabourey Sidibe is dialing up her next TV role: The Empire and American Horror Story veteran will play a phone sex operator in the comedy pilot 1266, in the works at Hulu via Onyx Collective. The pilot order was announced Saturday at the Television Critics Association winter press tour.
Sidibe will play Gabby Brixton, an aimless woman living with her mom and getting fired from job after job. But then, “she stumbles upon the gig of a lifetime ― phone sex! What initially seems like a quick way to make money turns into a life-changing experience when she meets the women who become her chosen family and learns how powerful, profitable and prolific her voice can be,” per the official description.
1266 is inspired by Sidibe’s real-life story, and she has a story credit on the project, along with creator and executive producer Thembi Banks (Only Murders in the Building). Banks will serve as co-showrunner along with Julie Bean (grown-ish).
Sidibe first broke out by playing the title role in the 2009 film Precious, earning an Oscar nomination. She later played Becky on the Fox primetime soap Empire and appeared in several seasons of American Horror Story. Her other TV credits include Difficult People and The Big C.
Onyx Collective is a content brand under the Disney umbrella focused on telling stories by Black writers and other underrepresented groups. The brand’s projects stream on Hulu, with legal drama Reasonable Doubt debuting in September. Also in the works: the Kerry Washington and Delroy Lindo comedy Unprisoned (premiering March 10) and the docuseries The 1619 Project (premiering Jan. 26).
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