Lucy Liu Lands Lead in CBS All Access’ ‘Why Women Kill’

By Denise Petski, Deadline
Published Feb. 11, 2019, 3:45 p.m. ET

Elementary star Lucy Liu has been tapped to star in CBS All Access’ upcoming darkly comedic drama Why Women Kill.

Created by Marc Cherry (Desperate Housewives, Devious Maids), Why Women Kill details the lives of three women living in three different decades: a housewife in the ‘60s, a socialite in the ‘80s and a lawyer in 2018, each dealing with infidelity in their marriages. The series will examine how the roles of women have changed, but how their reaction to betrayal… has not.

Liu will star as Simone. Elegant, stylish, effervescent, Simone is the picture of urbane confidence, moving through the world as if it were a delightful movie starring herself. Smugly superior, a woman for whom appearances mean everything, she thrives on shopping and throwing parties, seemingly happily married to her indulgent husband, Karl, who thinks she is simply fabulous. However, despite nagging premonitions, Simone is devastated, her world upended, when she learns that Karl has been cheating on her.

Liu has co-starred for six seasons on CBS’ highly praised drama series Elementary as Dr. Joan Watson, alongside Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes. Liu continues to direct episodes of Elementary, since her directing debut in 2014. She most recently starred in Netflix’s feature film, Set It Up, opposite Taye Diggs, Glenn Powell and Zoey Deutch, directed by Claire Scanlon. Liu is repped by Framework Entertainment, Untitled Entertainment, ICM Partners, and Schreck Rose Dapello Adams Berlin & Dunham.

Cherry will serve as executive producer alongside Imagine’s Brian Grazer (Empire, Genius) and Francie Calfo (Empire, Genius), and Acme Productions’ Michael Hanel and Mindy Schultheis. Marc Webb will also executive produce and direct.

Why Women Kill is produced by Imagine Television Studios and CBS Television Studios.