Adrien Brody and Tessa Thompson to Make Broadway Debuts in “The Fear of 13”
- - Adrien Brody and Tessa Thompson to Make Broadway Debuts in “The Fear of 13”
Dave QuinnJanuary 14, 2026 at 12:13 AM
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Adrien Brody and Tessa Thompson
Adrien Brody and Tessa Thompson are checking off a new milestone in their careers.
The two-time Oscar winner, 41, and the recent Golden Globe nominee are set to make their Broadway debuts this spring in The Fear of 13, a powerful new drama about the real-life journey of Nick Yarris, the man who spent more than two decades on death row before being exonerated by DNA evidence.
Directed by Tony Award winner David Cromer, the limited engagement production begins previews March 19 at the James Earl Jones Theatre, with opening night on April 15. The production will run for 16 weeks.
Playwright Lindsey Ferrentino — who made her Broadway debut earlier this season with the book to The Queen of Versailles — adapted the story from Yarris’ own first-person account, which has been told in multiple formats over the years including his bestselling memoir, Seven Days to Live, and director David Sington's critically acclaimed 2015 documentary, also titled The Fear of 13.
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Nick Yarris, Adrien Brody and Lindsey Ferrentino at the London opening of 'The Fear of 13' in October 2024
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Yarris was wrongly convicted in Pennsylvania in 1982 for a rape and murder he did not commit. He spent 22 years on death row before DNA testing proved his innocence. He was released in 2004.
Brody, known for his roles on screen in The Pianist and The Brutalist, will portray Yarris. The actor, 52, previously played the role in during a 2024 production of The Fear of 13 directed by Justin Martin at London's Donmar Warehouse.
Thompson — who can be seen on screen currently in Hedda and the Netflix series His & Hers — is new to the play. The actress, 42, will take on the role of Jackie, a volunteer who visits Yarris behind bars to hear his story.
The play follows the pair through a number of Nick and Jackie's visits. As their conversations deepen and "Nick traces a life shaped by impulse and consequence," a release explains, "the line between witness and participant blurs, forcing both to confront what justice demands, what belief requires, and the perilous distance between true freedom and the illusion of self-determination."
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Tickets for The Fear of 13 go on sale at noon on Friday, Jan. 23. A fan presale will be available beginning on Thursday, Jan. 22.
The Broadway production will also include a partnership with the Innocence Project, the organization dedicated to freeing the wrongfully convicted and reforming the criminal justice system (and the same group that helped secure Yarris’ exoneration).
Christina Swarns, one of Yarris' former attorneys, now serves as executive director of the not-for-profit organization. It has helped to free or exonerate more than 250 people who, collectively, spent over 4,000 years behind bars, and contributed to the passage of more than 250 transformative state and federal reforms.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
