Debra Messing Joins Cast of Netflix's 13 Movie Adaptation

Emmy winner Debra Messing has joined the cast of the upcoming 13 film adaptation, according to Deadline. The stage and screen star will play Evan Goldman’s mother in the Netflix movie, which is based on the Jason Robert Brown musical of the same name.

Messing joins a previously announced cast of teens that includes Eli Golden as Evan Goldman, JD McCrary as Brett, Khiyla Aynne as Charlotte, Nolen Dubuc as Malcolm, Frankie McNellis as Lucy and Wyatt Moss as Zee as well as Broadway alums Gabriella Uhl and Ramon Reed. The cast also includes Lindsey Blackwell, Jonathan Lengel, Luke Islam, Shechinah Mpumlwana, Kayleigh Cerezo and Liam Wignall.

It was announced in 2019 that Brown's musical, featuring a book by Dan Elish and Robert Horn, would be adapted for the screen by Horn with Tamra Davis directing.

The story of 13 follows a Jewish teen named Evan Goldman, who is forced to move across country after his parents divorce, premiered at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on Broadway in 2008. It was the first—and so far only—musical to feature a cast and band composed of teenagers. The original cast included Ariana Grande, Elizabeth Gillies and Graham Phillips.

As previously reported, Messing will return to the Broadway stage in Noah Haidle's Birthday Candles, which will play at the American Airlines Theatre beginning on March 18, 2022 and officially open on April 10.