Andre Braugher, Susan Kelechi Watson Join Shondaland’s ‘The Residence’  

Netflix has rounded out the ensemble cast of its forthcoming Shondaland White House murder-mystery drama series The Residence.

Ordered straight to series last March, The Residence is described as a thrilling, comedic murder mystery starring Uzo Aduba. Joining the series from exec producers Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers are Andre Braugher, Susan Kelechi Watson, Jason Lee, Ken Marino, Edwina Findley, Molly Griggs, Al Mitchell, Dan Perrault, Bronson Pinchot, Isiah Whitlock Jr. and Mary Wiseman.

Here’s the official logline for The Residence, per Netflix: “132 rooms. 157 suspects. One dead body. One wildly eccentric detective. One disastrous State Dinner. The Residence is a screwball whodunnit set in the upstairs, downstairs and backstairs of the White House, among the eclectic staff of the world’s most famous mansion.” The drama uses Kate Andersen Brower’s book, The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House, as a jumping-off point to tell a new murder-mystery story.

Aduba stars as Cordelia Cupp, a consulting detective for the Metropolitan Police Department. Cupp is an astute observer of human behavior, with a distinctive and — to some, unsettling — conversational style. 

Braugher (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) plays White House chief usher A.B. Wynter. Findley (The Wire) plays Sheila Cannon, White House butler. Griggs (Servant) plays Lilly Schumacher, President Perry Morgan’s social secretary. Lee (My Name Is Earl) plays Tripp Morgan, President Morgan’s younger brother and a bit of a screw-up. Marino (currently reprising his role in Starz’s Party Down revival) plays Harry Hollinger, President Morgan’s oldest friend, closest adviser and most trusted confidante. Mitchell (Stranger Things) plays Rollie Bridgewater, head butler/maître d’. Perrault (Players) plays Colin Trask, head of the presidential detail for the Secret Service. Pinchot (Our Flag Means Death) plays Didier Gotthard, White House executive pastry chef. Watson (This Is Us) plays Jasmine Haney, a young and rising White House assistant usher. Whitlock Jr. (The Wire) plays Larry Dokes, chief of police, metropolitan police department. And Wiseman (Baskets) rounds out the cast as Marvella, White House executive chef. 

The role of the show’s president has yet to be cast.

Paul William Davies, who previously teamed with Shondaland on ABC’s Scandal and For the People, serves as showrunner and exec produces alongside Rhimes and Beers. The eight-episode series stems from Shondaland’s overall deal with Netflix as well as Davies’ pact with the streamer.