Lady in the Lake, an upcoming Apple TV+ series starring Natalie Portman, has halted production after several Baltimore residents threatened and attempted to extort the producers.
Around 4 p.m. Friday, the crew was filming in downtown Baltimore when they were approached by several people. A police spokesperson told The Baltimore Banner that the group threatened to return and shoot someone if the production did not stop filming.
The perpetrators stated that nothing would happen unless they were paid. According to The Banner, drug dealers then tried to extort $50,000 from the producers, who refused to pay. Instead, it was decided to halt filming until a new location could be found.
As of Sunday, it was unclear when the show would resume filming.
The limited series, directed and co-written by Alma Har’el, is set in 1960s Baltimore, where an unsolved murder forces housewife and mother Maddie Schwartz (played by Portman) to reinvent her life as an investigative journalist, putting her on a collision course with Cleo Sherwood, a hardworking woman juggling motherhood, many jobs, and a passionate commitment to advancing Baltimore’s Black progressive agenda.
The ensemble cast of Lady in the Lake includes Y’Lan Noel (Insecure), Mikey Madison (Better Things), and Brett Gelman (Stranger Things). Moses Ingram took over the role of Cleo from Lupita Nyong’o in June.
Along with Dre Ryan, Portman and Har’el serve as executive producers.