A group of actors step out of Hollywood and into the heart of real issues in a new Epix docuseries about inequality, “America Divided.”
From executive producers Norman Lear, Shonda Rhimes and Common, the series sends eight famous faces to different corners of the country to explore some of the socioeconomic issues plaguing the nation.
Among the contributors and challenges explored: Rosario Dawson takes on the Flint, Michigan water crisis. Amy Poehler looks at the challenges faced by California’s domestic workers. America Ferrera learns more about immigration issues. Zach Galifianakis heads to his home state of North Carolina to understand the country’s growing political divide. Peter Sarsgaard interviews people at the heart of the addiction crisis. Jesse Williams asks tough questions about inequality in education. And even producers Common and Lear get into the action.
“Well, as somebody who’s fairly sophisticated [and] reads a reasonable amount, I thought I understood the difficulties of housing in New York,” Lear told reporters this summer during a panel for the show at the Television Critics Association press tour. “But after spending a few days working with them…I was horrified at how little I knew.”
Lear’s segment explores gentrification and the lack of affordable housing in New York.
“You have to be inside of something, I think, to understand, really understand the horror,” he added.
The issues covered in the “American Divided” aren’t easily solved, but the show’s participants hope to make them better understood.
“It’s time to cut through the noise,” Dawson says in the sneak peek video. “It’s time to uncover the roots of the problem and how it affects us all.”
“America Divided” premieres with a 90-minute premiere on September 30.
