Downton Abbey veteran Dan Stevens is plugging a big hole in Gaslit, replacing Armie Hammer in the cast of the next Starz drama with Julia Roberts and Sean Penn.
The production, by the same creator of Mr. Robot and Homecoming, Sam Esmail, is based on Slate’s Slow Burn podcast about the Watergate scandal. It is described as “a modern approach to Watergate that focuses on the untold stories and forgotten characters of the scandal - from Nixon’s opportunistic and clumsy subordinates to troubled zealots helping and inciting his crimes, to tragic whistle-blowers who would eventually make the entire company collapse”.
Stevens takes on the role of John Dean, the young White House adviser torn between his ambition and his dilemma about lying to protect the president. It’s Stevens’ most significant TV job since FX’s Legion ended in 2019.
Hammer, whose career has been hampered in recent months by a series of allegations of sexual misconduct and assault, left the project in January due to a scheduling conflict at the time.
Julia Roberts will play Martha Mitchell, “a great personality with an even bigger mouth”, who is an Arkansas socialite and the wife of Nixon’s loyal attorney general, John Mitchell. Despite her party affiliation, she is the first person to speak publicly about Nixon’s involvement in Watergate, causing both his presidency and his personal life to crumble.
Sean Penn, on the other hand, will play the attorney general, who is temperamental, outgoing and relentless, but hopelessly in love with his wife. He ends up being forced to choose between Martha and the president.
Further details on Gaslit have not yet been released. Stay tuned for the next news!
