Brit Actor Chiké Okonkwo Lands Role in 'La Brea' NBC Pilot (Exclusive)

The disaster series follows a group of survivors trapped underground after a sinkhole opens up near L.A.'s La Brea Tar Pits.

Chiké Okonkwo, the British actor and Royal Shakespeare Company member best known for appearing in Gabrielle Union's Being Mary Jane alongside roles in Birth of a Nation and Brit series New Tricks, has landed a major role in NBC's pilot La Brea, coming from from writer David Appelbaum, Keshet Studios and Universal Television.

The high-concept disaster series written by Appelbaum and directed by Thor Freudenthal — sees a massive sinkhole open up near Los Angeles' La Brea Tar Pits that swallows countless people, buildings and cars. As emergency search and recovery teams set up camp at the edge of the hole, deep inside the Earth the survivors scramble to make a sense of their surroundings, a world populated by animals that once roamed the Earth thousands of years ago.

Natalie Zea, Karina Logue, Michael Raymond-James and Zyra Gorecki have also been cast in the pilot. The Hollywood Reporter understands that Okonkwo will play a troubled and suicidal survivor trapped underground.

Appelbaum executive produces with Ken Woodruff, Keshet’s Avi Nir, Alon Shtruzman, Peter Traugott and Rachel Kaplan.

Okonkwo is repped by IAG, Paradigm and Management 360. Todd Rubenstein from Morris Yorn is his attorney.