Ambitions (TV series)

***Ambitions*** is an American drama television series created by Jamey Giddens and Will Packer, and executive produced by Will Packer Productions and Lionsgate Television. It aired for one season on the Oprah Winfrey Network from June 18 to December 17, 2019; in January 2020, it was announced that the show had been cancelled.

## Premise

The show explores the sexy, deceitful machinations of love, power and politics in America's hottest urban mecca, Atlanta, Georgia. It centers around two intense rivalries between the formidable legal eagles Stephanie Carlisle and Amara Hughes, former best friends from Spellman College, as adversaries in both their personal and professional lives. At the story's inception, Amara and her husband Titus Hughes move to Atlanta for a fresh start. Stephanie, married to city mayor Evan Lancaster, is driven to ruin Amara's marriage over an old conflict over who would become Titus' long-term love interest. The second is between two professional families, the Carlisles (who own a major law firm) and the Purifoys (who own a large pharmaceutical corporation). The series features themes of infidelity, blackmail, stalking, murder, gentrification, racism, intra-racial class stratification and the American opioid crisis, which grounds the show in contemporary issues.

## Cast and characters

### Main

* Robin Givens as Stephanie Carlisle Lancaster, an ambitious attorney and the wife of Atlanta Mayor Evan Lancaster.
* Essence Atkins as Amara Hughes, Assistant United States Attorney and former friend-turned-adversary of Stephanie Lancaster.
* Brian J. White as Evan Lancaster, Jr., Stephanie's husband and the ambitious Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia.
* Kendrick Cross as Titus Hughes, Amara's husband.
* Brely Evans as Rondell Pauline Lancaster, Evan Lancaster's older sister and owner of Thelma's Place.
* Erica Page as Bella Tru, a fashion designer and one of Evan's lovers and mother of his illegitimate son.

### Recurring

* Christina Kirkman as Lori Purifoy, the smart and challenging daughter of Hunter Purifoy who works in PR.
* Steven Williams as Stephen Carlisle, a powerful attorney and father of Stephanie.
* Brian Bosworth as Hunter Purifoy, a savvy pharmaceutical magnate, who is in the throes of combating a class action suit brought by the powerful Carlisle law firm family.
* Deena Hill as Juniper Purifoy, Hunter's wife.
* Gino Anthony Pesi as Greg Peters, an aggressive, self-confident real estate developer who's trying to get Rondell to sell him the family restaurant so he can use the block in an upcoming development plan.
* Alexander Mulzac as Damian Collins
* Kayla Smith as Carly Lancaster, Stephanie and Evan's smart and determined daughter and a theater major at Spelman College.
* Donna Biscoe as Irene Perkins-Carlisle, Stephanie's mother
* Tony Vaughn as Evan "Senior" Lancaster, Sr., Evan and Rondell's father who founded Thelma's Place.
* Lana Young as Inez Trujillo, Bella's mother who works at Thelma's Place.
* Brianne Cordaro as Daphne Manning, a member of Evan Lancaster's city administration and mistress.
* Andrew Rush as Alix, Evan Lancaster's personal security detail.
* Felisha Terrell as Marylin Barnes, Stephanie and Amara's sorority sister and a philanthropist.
* E. Roger Mitchell as Marvin Barnes, Marilyn's husband and owner of Beta New Electric.
* Maria Legarda as Perla, Bella's jealous friend.