‘When They See Us’ on Netflix: Premiere Date, Cast and the Untold Story of the Central Park 5

The true story of the Central Park Five is about to get a much wider audience thanks to Ava DuVernay‘s upcoming Netflix miniseries When They See Us. The four-part drama, which was directed and co-written by DuVernay, documents how five teenage boys—four black and one Latino—were wrongly convicted of attacking and raping a white woman in New York City’s Central Park on the night of April 19, 1989. The crime, which which was highly publicized, became known as the “the Central Park jogger case,” and the five teenagers were known as “the Central Park Five.”

DuVernay, who was the first black woman director to have her film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture with 2014’s Selma, has been working on this project for Netflix since 2017. In addition to directing every episode, she co-wrote the series with Robin Swicord (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Attica Locke (Empire), Yusuf Hassan and Michael Starrbury. For those who don’t know the true story behind the series, it’s absolutely worth finding out more about. Here’s a refresher on the case, cast and premiere date before you watch When They See Us.

WHAT IS WHEN THEY SEE US ABOUT? WHAT IS THE TRUE STORY BEHIND WHEN THEY SEE US?

On the night of April 19, 1989, a 28-year-old white woman named Trisha Meili was assaulted and raped while she was jogging through Central Park. The attack incited public outrage and received widespread coverage, becoming a media sensation. Five black teenage boys who were in the park that night were wrongfully arrested and charged with a variety of crimes related to Meili’s attack including assault, robbery, riot, rape, and attempted murder. When They See Us is the true story of how they were coerced into confessing to a crime they did not commit.

WHO ARE THE CENTRAL PARK 5?

Their names are Korey Wise, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Antron McCray, and Raymond Santana. All were between the ages of 14 and 16 and all were convicted in 1990 and sentenced to between 5 and 15 years in prison, despite the fact that none of their DNA matched the tested DNA that was found by the FBI’s rape kit. None confessed to committing the rape, but, after hours of intense interrogation, they all claimed they were present at the crime scene, and blamed each other for the crime. Later, when the five convicted men sued New York City in 2003 for malicious prosecution, racial discrimination, and emotional distress, they described being coerced into confessing and pressured by the police to lie.

In a recent interview for CBS News Sunday Morning, McCray said, “I just kept telling the truth at first. [The detectives] asked to speak to my father. My father left the room with them. Came back in the room, he just changed. Cursing, yelling at me. And he said, ‘Tell these people what they wanna hear so you go home.’ I’m like, ‘Dad, but I didn’t do anything.’ The police is yelling at me. My father yelling at me. And I just like, ‘All right. I did it.'”

WHO IS KOREY WISE? WHO PLAYS KOREY WISE IN WHEN THEY SEE US?

All five teenagers were found guilty, but Korey Wise, the oldest of the group at 16, was the only one tried as an adult rather than a juvenile. He was sentenced to 5 to 15 years and served 12 years in prison. In When They See Us, Korey Wise is played brilliantly by Jharrel Jerome, who you may recognize from the Oscar-winning film Moonlight, where he played Kevin at age 16 opposite Ashton Sanders.

WERE THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE EVER PROVEN INNOCENT?

Yes. As Wise was entering his 13th year in prison, he happened to run into a man named Matias Reyes, to whom he told his story. By an amazing coincidence, Reyes was the one who actually committed the rape, and, feeling guilty that Wise was still serving time for the crime he committed, Reyes confessed that he and he alone raped Meili. He spoke of details that only the attacker would know, and his DNA was a match. Reyes was not charged for Meili’s rape as the statute of limitation had expired, but the Central Park Five were exonerated and eventually received a $41 million settlement from the City of New York.

WHO ELSE IS IN THE WHEN THEY SEE US CAST?

Antron McCray is played by The Leftovers‘ Jovan Adepo (with Caleel Harris as Young Anton McCray), Yusef Salaam is played by Chris Chalk (with Ethan Herisse as Young Yusef Salaam), Raymond Santana is played by Freddy Miyares (with Marquis Rodriguez as Young Raymond Santana), and Kevin Richardson is played by Justin Cunningham (with Asante Blackk as Young Kevin Richardson).

Other cast members include Niecy Nash as Korey’s mother, The Wire‘s Michael K. Williams as Antron’s father, Vera Farmiga as the lead detective on the case, John Leguizamo as Raymond’s father and Hamilton‘s Christopher Jackson.

WHEN DOES WHEN THEY SEE US PREMIERE?

All four episodes of When They See Us will premiere on Netflix on May 31.

Stream When They See Us on Netflix