Hollywood actress Kristen Stewart will make her series debut with “The Challenger,” produced by Amazon MGM Studios. In the series, Stewart will play the role of Sally Ride, an astronaut and physicist who was the first American woman to fly into space, entertainment website Deadline reports.
Actress Kyra Sedgwick of Substantial Swing Productions developed the project and brought it to Amblin, and is also executive producing in association with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners and Stewart’s Nevermind production company.
“The Challenger” is based on the book “The Fresh Guys” written by Meredith E Bagby, who collaborated with actress Kyra Sedgwick and Valerie Stadler on the film Substantial Swing. They are also executive producers.
Sally Ride was the first woman and the first openly LGBTQ+ person to fly into space. In 1983, she made history as the first American to fly on the Space Shuttle, gaining instant fame. However, this joy was eclipsed three years later when the Challenger space shuttle disintegrated 73 seconds after launch, killing all seven crew members.
Ride later became the only astronaut appointed to the Rogers Commission, the presidential panel tasked with investigating the disaster. She identified a problem with O-rings that stiffened in low temperatures and eventually caused an explosion. Ride died of cancer in 2012 at the age of 61.
Stewart will take on the role of executive producer of “The Challenge,” and Sedgwick emphasized the actress’ mighty interest in portraying Sally Ride’s story. Sedgwick noted, “She’s never been on TV, but when she read this, she was obsessed with telling Sally Ride’s story from her own unique perspective, which I won’t even try to paraphrase because she’s so persuasive about it.” The screenwriter and showrunner will be Maggie Cohn, known for her work on American Crime Story, The Staircase and Narcos: Mexico.
Kristen Stewart recently starred in Rose Glass’s thriller “Love Lies Bleeding.” This neo-noir film premiered earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival. In the film, Kristen plays Louise “Lou” Langston, a lonely gym manager who begins an affair with Jackie, an up-and-coming bodybuilder. The plot centers around their relationship when they become involved in organized crime and an ambitious bodybuilder commits a series of murders. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics.
(with PTI inputs)
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