‘We’re not becoming those people, are we?” says Billie Page, the high-powered lawyer suspicious of the self-righteous path she’s traveling with Adam, her district attorney-husband.
It’s a line of questioning that, in WE tv’s new series, “The Divide,” will introduce viewers to a high-powered African-American couple forced to revisit a 10-year-old murder case they assumed was closed for good.
“The Divide” premieres Wednesday with stars Nia Long and Damon Gupton, and is WE’s first original drama series. It’s a big programming step for a network best-known for celebrity reality shows and old reruns of “Will and Grace.”
“People think of WE as reality TV for women — we’ll be the first to help them broaden the audience,” says Long, who plays Billie.
Unlike “Scandal’s” Mellie Grant, the subservient and timid wife of President Fitzgerald Grant, Billie is an outspoken equal — both in her household and in the legal arena.
(“The Divide” is written and directed by “Scandal” star Tony Goldwyn, who plays Fitzgerald Grant.)
“[‘The Divide’] deals with love and relationships in a very honest way,” Long says. “It examines the dynamic between two powerful people.”
Billie is a dedicated mother and wife. Together, she and Adam form one of Philadelphia’s most powerful legal alliances.
“The show is based loosely on the events within the Innocence Project for the wrongly accused and how we all have choices to make,” Long explains. “Truth versus what we stand for, where do you cross that line of being true to yourself — or doing what’s necessary to get things done that may or may not go against your moral code?”
Morally, the Pages believed they did everything right in prosecuting several men convicted of killing an entire family in a landmark case that boosted Adam’s career.
But along comes Christina Rose (Marin Ireland, “Homeland”), a new Innocence Initiative recruit who uncovers crucial evidence that could clear the imprisoned men.
Long says that “The Divide” serves as Goldwyn’s passion project.
“This is exciting for him. The Innocence Project is something that he’s personally involved with,” she says.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because Goldwyn has visited the subject matter before in his 2010 film “Conviction,” starring Hillary Swank and Sam Rockwell (the movie had a similar premise). “Tony wants to bring social awareness that goes beyond the show,” Long says.
Founded in 1992 by Barry Scheck and Peter J. Neufield, the Innocence Project is a non-profit public policy organization that works to exonerate the wrongfully accused through DNA testing.
Long, who is originally from Brooklyn, was moved by the role and the magnitude of the cases.
“The show allows us to explore the process of finding someone who was wrongly accused” to being exonerated, she says. “It’s become easier to find someone guilty than it is to find someone innocent.”