Best known for her roles as Samantha on “Big Little Lies” and Patricia on “Insecure,” Kathreen Khavari is set to topline “Embrace,” a pilot for Refinery29. Hailing from Khavari and co-writer Chuck Neal, the project will go into production in 2019, Variety confirms.
“Embrace” is set in Oakland, California and sees Khavari’s character coming up with “an unconventional solution to prevent her Iranian immigrant parents from having to move back to Iran,” according to the source. Refinery29 describes the show as being a “culturally diverse, quasi-surrealist comedy that captures the ever-increasing need for human connection and the subsequent commodification of it.”
Khavari gave her real-life mother a shout-out at the “Big Little Lies” premiere by wearing a dress that read: “My Iranian immigrant mother teaches your kids how to read.” She voices Ms. Marvel, Marvel’s first Muslim superhero, in Disney/Marvel’s animated franchise “Marvel Rising” and in “Marvel Avengers Assemble.”
Marta Cunningham (“Insecure,” “Room 104”) will direct “Embrace’s” pilot and is among its exec producers, as is Khavari.