Cleopatra Coleman to Star as V. Stiviano in FX’s “The Sterling Affairs” Joining Previously Announced Laurence Fishburne, Ed O’Neill, and Jacki Weaver

FX’s The Sterling Affairs, the limited series about the downfall of Los Angeles Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling, has rounded out the cast with Cleopatra Coleman starring as Sterling’s mistress V. Stiviano.

Kelly AuCoin will play former Los Angeles Clippers President Andy Roeser, and Austin Scott, J. Alphonse Nicholson, Sheldon “Shel” Bailey, Sarunas J. Jackson and Charlie McElveen will round out the cast as the NBA players caught up in the shocking events.

They join the previously announced Laurence Fishburne, starring as former Clippers Head Coach Doc Rivers, Ed O’Neill as Donald Sterling, and Jacki Weaver as Shelly Sterling, Donald Sterling’s wife.

The Sterling Affairs tells the behind-the-scenes story of Doc Rivers and the Los Angeles Clippers’ quest to bring a championship to one of the historically worst franchises in all of sports during the impending downfall of the team’s owner, Donald Sterling, whose notoriously racist behavior is brought to light amid the power struggle between his wife of 60+ years, Shelly Sterling, and his mistress, V. Stiviano.

Cleopatra Coleman (Dopesick, A Lot of Nothing) will star as V. Stiviano. Coleman is represented by CAA, Entertainment 360, and McKuin Frankel Whitehead.

Kelly AuCoin (Billions, The Bold Type) will play former Los Angeles Clippers President Andy Roeser. Aucoin is represented by Artists and Representatives and Industry Entertainment.

Austin Scott (A Jazzman’s Blues) will play Blake Griffin. Scott is represented by Gersh, Soffer Entertainment, and attorney Lucy Popkin.

J. Alphonse Nicholson (P-Valley, Self Made) will play Chris Paul. Nicholson is represented by CESD, AC Management, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner & Klein.

Sheldon “Shel” Bailey (Shameless, Game Shakers) will play D’Andre Jordan. Bailey is represented by MMV Agency and Art Work Entertainment.

Sarunas J. Jackson (Insecure, Made For Love, Gatlopp) will play Matt Barnes. Jackson is represented by A3 Artists Agency, Canopy Media Partners, and Yorn, Levine, Barnes, Krintzman, Rubenstein, Kohner, Endlich & Gellman.

Charlie McElveen (The Deuce, Evil) will play JJ Reddick. McElveen is represented by A3 Artists Agency, Sherpa Management, and Framework Entertainment.

The Sterling Affairs is written by Gina Welch and based on the ESPN 30 for 30 Podcast of the same name reported and hosted by Ramona Shelburne.

The Sterling Affairs will be executive produced by Welch (Under the Banner of Heaven, Castle Rock), Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson of Color Force (American Crime Story, Pose), Shelburne, and Zanne Devine. Kevin Bray will direct the first block and serve as an executive producer on those episodes. Nellie Reed of Color Force will serve as Co-Executive Producer and Rembert Browne will serve as Producer. The series will be produced by FX Productions.

**CAST BIOS**

Cleopatra “Cleo” Coleman is a versatile actress, writer, and performer who is quickly making her name known across screens worldwide. Coleman quickly rose to fame starring alongside Will Forte as ‘Erica’ in Fox’s critically acclaimed hit comedy The Last Man on Earth.

Coleman will next be seen starring in Mo McRae’s thriller comedy A Lot of Nothing. Coleman stars opposite Y’lan Noel (Insecure). The film follows Coleman and Noel’s “Vanessa” and “James,” a married couple whose lives spiral out of control when they decide to seek justice against a neighbor they saw commit a crime on the evening news. The film premiered at SXSW this year. She will also next be seen in Zac Snyder’s Rebel Moon for Netflix.

Later this year, Coleman will star in the Lionsgate horror film Cobweb, opposite Lizzy Caplan (Masters of Sex) and Antony Starr (The Boys). She will also star opposite Alexander Skarsgard (The Viking) and Mia Goth (Suspira) in Neon Films’ sci-fi thriller, Infinity Pool.

Last year, Coleman starred in the independent romantic comedy, The Right One. The film was written and directed by Ken Mok and also starred Iliza Shlesinger (Spenser Confidential) and Nick Thune (Extract).

In 2019, Coleman starred in Netflix’s original film, In the Shadow of the Moon opposite Michael C. Hall and Boyd Holbrook. The Hollywood Reporter raved, “the standout is Coleman who invests her enigmatic character with an arresting physicality that makes her far more interesting than as written.”

Coleman’s career spans over 15 years across film, television, and theatrical productions both in Australia and the US. In 2018, Coleman starred, wrote, and produced Syfy Films and Snowfort Pictures’ Hover. She continues to write films lead by empowered female protagonists.

Coleman is an Australian actress of Scottish and Jamaican descent who grew up in Byron Bay, New South Wales. She began her acting career in 2004 when she was cast as ‘Zandie Brokow’ in the Australian children’s science fiction series Silversun. She graduated from the prestigious performing arts program at Sandringham College in Melbourne Victoria.

Coleman resides in Los Angeles.

Kelly AuCoin is a series regular on Showtime’s Billions as ‘Dollar’ Bill Stern. He also plays Warren Sloan on Freeform/HULU’s The Bold Type. Recent recurring TV roles include Scott Gordon on HULU’s The Girl from Plainville, Scott Galloway on WeCrashed, Pastor Tim on FX’s The Americans, Hercules Mulligan on AMC’s TURN, and Gary Stamper on House of Cards. Other TV includes Blacklist, The Slap, Madam Secretary, Person of Interest, The Following, The Good Wife, Elementary, Blue Bloods, Unforgettable, Body of Proof, Gossip Girl, White Collar, The Sopranos, Without A Trace, and many Law & Order episodes of various suffixes. His film credits include, among others, The Good House (Amblin), False Positive (A24) A Shot Through The Wall, The Post, The Wizard of Lies, Julie & Julia, The Kingdom, All That I Am (SXSW Award; Ensemble Acting), Drunk Parents, Benji The Dove, Police State, The Music Never Stopped, and The Word. Theatre credits include Octavius Caesar in Julius Caesar on Broadway opposite Denzel Washington, The 24 Hour Plays Broadway, and the first national touring company of Copenhagen.

Austin Scott can be seen in Tyler Perry’s upcoming feature film A Jazzman’s Blues premiering at TIFF. He received critical acclaim on Broadway last season for his performance in Girl from the North Country, and starred for two years as the title role in Hamilton on both Broadway and National Tour.

J. Alphonse Nicholson is a Series Regular on Starz’s P-Valley as “Lil’ Murda.” He was a Series Regular on Netflix’s Madam C.J. Walker starring Octavia Spencer. Film credits include the upcoming They Cloned Tyrone starring Jamie Foxx and Warner Bros feature Just Mercy. He appeared on numerous TV series on CBS, FOX, BET, NBC, and Netflix. Theatre credits include the role of Private C.J. Memphis in Roundabout’s Tony Award-winning revival of A Soldier’s Play. Off-Broadway credits include Signature Theatre’s Paradise Blue (Blue) and New Federal Theatre’s Freight. J. Alphonse is from North Carolina and resides in Los Angeles.

Sheldon “Shel” Bailey, actor-athlete best known for making people laugh on Nickelodeon’s sitcom Game Shakers. Bailey is the recurring character “ATM” in the video game series NBA 2K. He has served as Lebron James’ body/stunt double in commercials and Space Jam 2. Bailey is a father and an accomplished poet. He played basketball internationally and locally and won numerous tournaments including be crowned King of The Rock.

Sarunas J. Jackson, while best known for his role as “Dro” on the hit HBO series Insecure, can currently be seen on series including HBOMAX’s Made for Love, Rap Sh!t, Games People Play, and the critically acclaimed Good Trouble as well as the feature film Gatlopp opposite Emmy Raver-Lampman and Jon Bass. Other credits include True Story, American Housewife, Chi-Raq, Transparent, and NBA2k16 directed by Spike Lee.

In addition to acting, Sarunas is also the co-host of the hit podcast Certified Buckets alongside Nick Young and Chiney Ogwumike for Spotify and Uninterrupted.

Charlie McElveen is a graduate of The Guildhall Drama School in London. Previous credits include The Deuce (HBO) and Evil (CBS). He’ll next be seen in the 20th Century Studios film True Love, directed by Gareth Edwards.