For Life: Nicholas Pinnock and 50 Cent take on the prison system in new drama

Inspired by a true story, For Life follows Aaron Wallace, a former club owner behind bars for drug trafficking. Wrongfully accused, imprisoned for life, robbed of his family and his freedom, Aaron is determined to change his fate by taking the bar and becoming a lawyer to fight for justice, not only for himself, but also for those around him. 

Both a legal drama and a prison drama, For Life is the story of one man’s struggle to clear his name and get his life back, with each instalment following a new case as Aaron represents his fellow inmates.

Executive produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, (who produced Power and the newly released Power Book II: Ghost), For Life was nominated for Outstanding Drama at the 2020 Black Reel Awards, with its star, Nicholas Pinnock (Fortitude, Marcella) nominated for Best Actor. 

“Pinnock’s brooding intensity establishes him as a leading man to watch,” says the New York Post, while the Washington Post praises a performance that, they say, “gives a palpable, urgent quality to Aaron’s intensity as both a prisoner and an attorney, outraged at a corrupt system and longing to return to his wife and teenage daughter.”  

For Life has an 86% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics consensus says, “Guided by Nicholas Pinnock’s powerful performance, For Life eschews procedural pitfalls with a sturdy, empathetic script and an impressive ensemble to bring it to life.”

A true story

The series is inspired by the true story of lawyer and former convict Isaac Wright Jr., who is also among the show’s executive producers.

The project was sparked by a mutual friend bringing Isaac’s story to 50 Cent. When the two of them pitched the concept to television network ABC, it was snapped up immediately. “They called before we got out of the building…” 50 Cent says, “…to tell us they bought it, they understood it.”

50 Cent also co-stars as prison inmate Cassius Dawkins, alongside Indira Varma (Game of Thrones, Rome, Luther) as prison warden Safiya Masry; MTV Movie Award nominee Mary Stuart Masterson (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Blindspot) as Safiya’s wife Anya; and Black Reel nominee Joy Bryant (Antwone Fisher, Parenthood) as Aaron’s wife, Marie.

“For Life is about a man’s quest to regain his freedom,” says Joy. “It’s a really scary thing to think about: that you can lose your life, you can lose your freedom, unjustly, when you didn’t do anything wrong, and lose your family and the people you care about. It’s one man’s odyssey back to his life.”

“It’s more than just a show, it’s a fight for justice.”

50 Cent

Announcing the show’s renewal earlier this year, 50 Cent said, “It’s more than just a show, it’s a fight for justice, and we’re keeping the fight going. Isaac Wright Jr. stood up to the system and won his freedom, and now more than ever, we need to keep telling the story inspired by his life.”

Series creator and Emmy-nominated writer-producer Hank Steinberg (Without a Trace, The Last Ship) says it’s been “a profound honour working with Isaac Wright, Jr. and 50 Cent to create a show that, through the prism of Isaac’s experience in our broken criminal justice system, has been able to highlight the racial inequality that plagues [America].”

Nicholas says he hopes the series will challenge its audience, “with their sense of morality, the way that they see the justice system. Even if you don’t change people’s minds and opinions, you give people the opportunity to think, and second-guess what it is that they’ve believed for so long to be right, that they begin to question that, so there is a chance for change to happen.”

“I think this is a story of hope, a story of overcoming obstacles,” says Isaac. “The thing that I would like, that I believe audiences will take away from this, is perseverance. We all encounter challenges, moving through life, and some worse than others, but at the end of the day, there’s always an answer. Even when it seems like all the doors are closed, sometimes, if you look a little bit deeper within yourself, you’ll find a way, and you’ll gather up the strength to continue to move on and to continue to overcome those obstacles. Whatever is in me is in everybody. It’s just that sometimes we don’t look deep enough. Some of us have to look deeper than others, but the answers are there.”