Katey Sagal to Star in Erin Brockovich-Inspired Pilot From Krista Vernoff at ABC

By Will Thorne

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Krista Vernoff is looking to set up another show at ABC.

The “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Station 19” showrunner is the writer and executive producer on a new pilot which has been ordered at , inspired by the life of famous legal clerk Erin Brockovich. Katey Sagal has been cast to play the lead role.

Titled “Rebel,” the project hails from ABC Studios and Sony Pictures Television, and centers around Annie “Rebel” Bello (Sagal), a blue collar legal advocate without a law degree. Rebel is described as a funny, messy, brilliant and fearless woman who cares desperately about the causes she fights for and the people she loves. When she applies herself to a fight she believes in, she will win at almost any cost.

Brockovich herself is on board as a non-writing executive producer, alongside Alexandre Schmidt and Davis Entertainment (John Davis and John Fox).

Brockovich’s life was previously adapted for the big screen by Steven Soderbergh and Sussanah Grant in the 2000 movie “.” The film starred Julia Roberts in an Academy Award winning performance and grossed over $250 million at the global box office.

The pilot order is the third to emerge from the Disney-owned network in the last three days. On Jan. 21, ABC ordered its first comedy pilot in the form of “Prospect,” a single-cam comedic western about an idealistic young woman who moves to the frontier to be a schoolteacher.

Just yesterday, the network also picked up drama project “Harlem’s Kitchen” to pilot from “Scandal” writer and “Stumptown” co-EP Zahir McGhee. The series is described as an ensemble family drama set in a fine dining restaurant in Harlem.