Tony Winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson Set for TNT's PUBLIC MORALS

Deadline reports that Ruben Santiago-Hudson, who received a Tony Award for his performance in the original Broadway production of August Wilson's Seven Guitars, will co-star opposite Ed Burns in a new TNT pilot titled PUBLIC MORALS, executive produced by Steven Spielberg.

Burns will write, executive produce and direct the project which is set in 1967 in New York City's Public Morals Division. According the report, the department is "where Cops walk the line between morality and criminality as the temptations that come from dealing with all kinds of Vice can get the better of them."

The show will follow police officer Terry Muldoon (Burns), whose work brings him to the darkest side of the Vice world as he attempts to raise his sons to become upstanding citizens.

Santiago-Hudson is set to portray Lt. King, described as "a womanizing badass, beloved and revered by the department, who has just as much drama outside of the workplace as there is inside the workplace."

Santiago-Hudson's other New York appearances include Gem of the Ocean, Jelly's Last Jam, and the one man-show Lackawanna Blues (he also appeared in the film version). Other films include The Devil's Advocate and Shaft. He has appeared on TV's "Law and Order" and "The West Wing."