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We all grew up watching Victoria Powell and Richard Brooks in shows like The Young & The Restless and Law & Order. Now, they’ve come together to star as the head of the Montross family in TVOne’s newest thriller, Montross: Blood Rules.

Montross: Blood Rules explores the complicated dynamics between the immediate members of the Montross family and the lengths they will go to protect the family’s deep, dark secrets. They will do whatever it takes to make sure what’s done in the dark never sees the light of day.

Attorney Robyn, played by Dawn Halfkenny, is called back home by her father when outside forces begin to threaten what the Montross family worked so hard for. Estranged from her family, she returns to her hometown of Evansdale and begins to unravel the web of lies that secured her family’s power and prominence in the first place. She discovers that the secrets go back generations. 

Consumed by her guilt, Robyn can no longer hide from the past and is forced to face a dark secret that has plagued her for years. When asked during a virtual press conference how she prepared for the role, Halfkenny said she “wanted to make sure that I breathe life into Robin and make the character as authentic as possible.” She worked hard to familiarize herself with the scenes and the script.

“There’s no formula for a family nucleus. They’re a powerful family. They don’t apologize for it, but there are some secrets,” Victoria Powell, who directed and starred in the film, said of the characters. “And what they do to protect each other is extraordinary to the lengths that they will go. 

Powell believes that people will relate to the film and maybe even see a little bit of their own family dynamics reflected throughout the Montross family. “So I think people will think about family, what family is,” she continues. “Maybe their own family might have some hidden secrets. But I think that the characters are so layered.”

Richard Brooks plays patriarch Cordell Montross Senior, while Powell pulls double duty as family matriarch Elaine Powell and also serves as the film’s director. The rest of the cast is rounded out with Renelle Nicole as Monty and singer-turned-actress Sheléa Frazier as Nia Montross. Frazier told journalists at the press conference that she was “honored” to play Nia and found the character relatable. 

“I was so honored, and I immediately related to Nia because Nia loves her family much as I do,” Frazier said, “So to me, I looked at everything that she was thinking, everything that she was experiencing, and almost finding out with that lens of still loving her family so deeply. 

The actress hinted that a series might be on the horizon, and she would love to explore more of Nia’s layers if given the chance. She continues, “But then also realizing that she is maybe a lot more similar to them than she may even realize, and we’re speaking this into existence: if it becomes a series, I believe that we’re going to explore that a little bit more.”

The movie is set to premiere on TVOne on October 1 at 8 p.m. ET.