Deadline reports that Minnie Driver has found her way back to network television as part of ABC’s Speechless pilot. The drama comes from Scott Silveri, who executive produced Friends, Joey, and the ill-fated Go On. Driver has been cast as Maya, an “overbearing mother” of three sons, a description that at first glance is in stark contrast to the freewheeling parent she played on NBC’s About A Boy adaptation.
But Maya’s just “fiercely protective” of her boys, especially JJ, who is non-verbal. The family’s moved around a lot in an effort to find the right school for JJ, and this single-mindedness seems to “rub people the wrong way—sometimes people in the family itself,” even though it “stems from a loving intention.” Mason Cook (The Goldbergs, Legends) will play Maya’s youngest child Ray, who feels like the “only adult in his family,” and who supports his mother as she struggles to raise three sons. But he despairs of her “tilting at windmills,” presumably because “looking after your family” can now be categorized as one of the loftier ambitions for TV characters these days.