‘Accused’ Bosses Preview Season 2 and Casting Felicity Huffman & William H. Macy Together

Accused is returning to TV after nearly two years and with it comes a slew of fresh and thought-provoking stories covering a variety of topics ranging from psychics in crime and the dangers of A.I. to road rage pitfalls.

When it came to settling on the type of stories co-creator and executive producer Howard Gordon wanted to share, it was important that they were “really relatable.” As Gordon tells TV Insider, “Of course, we all are scared and curious about A.I. and what this is going to look like, and what a great show format to find the right characters to ask those kinds of questions.” As for a road rage-angled episode, Gordon adds, “Who of us haven’t been in some moment where somebody cuts us off that makes you want to do something…”

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Most of these ideas Gordon adds are born out of interesting situations, “and then we build out of that molecule of curiosity and a series of questions. The crimes make it interesting and I think the show always has to be organic, but also surprising.”

As with Season 1, the latest chapter of the anthology has recruited a starry cast of characters with husband-wife duo Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy attached for the premiere episode, “Lorraine’s Story” which she plays a psychic medium who attempts to help a couple find their missing son.

While we don’t want to give too much away, when it came to casting another character for the episode beyond Huffman’s Lorraine, Macy seemed the perfect fit. “In the case of Felicity, I think my memory is that she had read it and we had a Zoom with her and we were talking about the other roles and I can’t remember if [she mentioned Bill for the role or we did],” adds showrunner Daniel Pearle.

“I think it is a fun enticing project for an actor,” he adds. “It’s a nine-day shoot, you are in and out, but also when it comes to someone like Felicity, we made it clear we were very game if she had friends or a husband who was right for something and wanted to join the party, we were very game.”

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Luckily, Macy was also free, and the couple were able to collaborate on the project together, “which I think was a lot of fun for them. So, we just got super lucky and it was really kismet,” Pearle adds. Among other stars to anticipate are the appearance of Fox favorites Nick Cannon and Ken Jeong who are subverting expectations with their unlikely roles.

But giving stars an outlet to break the mold on their usual genres is part of what excites the team behind this courtroom drama. “Anytime you cast someone who’s not as obvious to the role, they’re going to bring surprises that you didn’t even think of as the writer, and it adds something unexpected,” Pearle notes.

Stay tuned to see how this season’s cases unfold as the anthology returns to Fox this October.

Accused, Season 2 Premiere, Tuesday, October 8, 8/7c, Fox