Casting is coming together for the newest daytime drama.
CBS has announced the first cast members for its new Black soap opera, “Beyond the Gates,” which was previously known as “The Gates” when news that it was being developed came out earlier this year.
Tamara Tunie, Daphnee Duplaix and Karla Mosley have all signed on to the show, playing members of the Dupree family.
Tunie, who has starred on “As the World Turns” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” as well as “Blue Bloods,” The Good Wife” and “Elementary,” will play Anita Dupree, the family’s matriarch.
“A famous singer back in the day, Anita worked hard for her success, and raised two daughters with her now-retired senator husband,” CBS said in a press release. “But underneath her glamorous and refined exterior is a fierceness she gained from her humble beginnings in Chicago.”
Duplaix, who has starred on “One Life to Live,” will play Anita’s daughter Dr. Nicole Dupree Richardson. She’s described as a “high-achieving and competitive philanthropist and psychiatrist, and exudes warmth, empathy and compassion. Nicole’s success in life extends to her marriage to her surgeon husband. She has the perfect life … from the outside.”
Mosley will play Dani Dupree, Anita’s other daughter and sister of Duplaix’s character. Dani is a former model who walked away from her career for love. “Free-spirited, headstrong and uninhibited, she dropped out of school to pursue a high-flying modeling career and she has always marched to the beat of her own drum,” CBS said.
The network is also peeling back the curtain a bit on what viewers will see on the show.
“‘Beyond the Gates’ is set in a leafy Maryland suburb just outside of Washington D.C., and in one the most affluent African American counties in the United States,” CBS says.
“Here you’ll find a posh gated community with winding tree-lined streets and luxurious mansions to call home. At the center of this community are the Duprees, a powerful and prestigious multi-generational family that is the very definition of Black royalty. But behind these pristine walls and lush, manicured gardens are juicy secrets and scandals waiting to be uncovered.
“And those that live outside these gates are watching closely. These are the places where our characters live, love, work and play. Those who have ‘made it’ and those who haven’t are all trying to navigate life … and some with more grace than others.”
In March, it was revealed that CBS was creating a new Black soap opera as part of a joint venture with CBS Studios and the NAACP, in partnership with P&G Studios.
“The series, titled ‘The Gates,’ follows the lives of a wealthy Black family in a posh, gated community,” the NAACP said in a statement March 6.
Veteran soap opera writer Michele Val Jean, who has won multiple Daytime Emmy Awards for her work on “General Hospital” and “The Bold and the Beautiful,” will write and serve as the showrunner on the series.
What to expect on ‘The Gates’
“The Gates’ will be everything we love about daytime drama, from a new and fresh perspective,” said Sheila Ducksworth, president of the CBS Studios NAACP venture.
“This series will salute an audience that has been traditionally underserved, with the potential to be a groundbreaking moment for broadcast television. With multi-dimensional characters, juicy storylines and Black culture front and center, ‘The Gates’ will have impactful representation, one of the key touchstones of the venture.”
Ducksworth is looking forward to providing content focusing on new characters.
“I’m excited to develop this project with CBS and P&G, two of the longest and most passionate champions of broadcast and daytime television, and the NAACP, whose enduring commitment to Black voices and artists is both powerful and inspiring,” she said.
When will ‘Beyond The Gates’ soap opera premiere?
There has been no announcement about when the show, which will be the first one-hour daytime Black soap opera, will premiere, although CBS says it should debut in early 2025.
The last time a daytime soap opera focused on Black characters was when “Generations” premiered on NBC in 1999. It ran until 2008. Currently, there are only three soaps on broadcast television: “General Hospital” is on ABC, while “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful” are both on CBS. “Days of Our Lives” can be streamed on Peacock.
(Peacock is part of our parent company, NBCUniversal.)
In February, CBS announced “The Young and the Restless” had been renewed for four more years through the 2027-2028 season.
“I’ve been coming to this studio for 44 years now and now we have another four years added to it. How wonderful is that?” star Eric Braeden said in an Instagram video message.
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