‘JonBenet Ramsey’ Series at Paramount+ Finds Its Title Character

The Paramount+ limited series about the murder of JonBenét Ramsey has cast the girl at the center of the story.

Emily Mitchell (Women Talking, Ordinary Angels) will play JonBenét in the drama. Garrett Hedlund, Alison Pill and Owen Teague have also been cast in the series, which comes from Yellowstone producers MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios. JonBenét Ramsey (a working title) will follow the Ramsey family before and after the still unsolved murder of 6-year-old JonBenét on Dec. 25, 1996.

The four actors join the previously cast Melissa McCarthy and Clive Owen — playing JonBenét’s parents, Patsy and John Ramsey. Shea Whigham and Will Patton will also star as, respectively, District Attorney Alex Hunter and Lou Smit, a retired detective brought on to help investigate the case.

Hedlund (Tulsa King) will play Steve Thomas, a seasoned detective brought onto the case. Pill (Star Trek: Picard) will play Linda Arndt, a Boulder, Colorado, police detective who along with her partner were dispatched to the Ramsey home when JonBenét was reported missing. Teague (It) will play Jeff Shapiro, a report for the Globe tabloid.

Harrison Query and Tommy Wallach, who sold the project to MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios, and Richard LaGravenese (Behind the Candelabra) are writing the series; LaGravenese will serve as showrunner. They executive produce with David C. Glasser, Ron Burkle, Bob Yari and David Hutkin of 101 Studios, McCarthy and Anne Sewitsky, who is directing four of the eight episodes.

Mitchell is repped by Jackie Warden at Ritter Talent Agency in Toronto; Hedlund, by WME, Brillstein Entertainment Partners, Sloane Offer and The Initiative Group; Pill, by The Burstein Company and CAA; and Teague, by CAA and Jackoway Austen.