EXCLUSIVE: Oscar-nominated actor Clive Owen will star as Bill Clinton in Impeachment: American Crime Story, the third season of FX’s award-winning limited series franchise, which centers on the sex scandal that rocked the Clinton presidency.
Primetime-Panic Your Complete Guide to Pilots and Straight-to-Series orders See All
Owen joins Sarah Paulson, who will play Linda Tripp, Beanie Feldstein, who will play Monica Lewinsky, and Annaleigh Ashford, who will play Paula Jones in the limited series, on which Lewinsky serves as a producer. The role of Hillary Clinton is currently being cast.
Impeachment is written by Sarah Burgess who executive produces alongside returning ACS team Ryan Murphy, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Brad Falchuk, Larry Karaszewski, Scott Alexander, Alexis Martin Woodall and Paulson. Feldstein, Henrietta Conrad and Jemima Khan are also producing. The limited series is based on Jeffrey Toobin’s bestselling book A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President. Toobin’s 1997 book The Run of His Life: The People v. O. J. Simpson served as the source material for Season 1 of American Crime Story.
Filming on Impeachment, from Fox 21 Television Studios/FX Production, is set to begin in late March. The limited series is currently slated to premiere on Sunday, September 27, 2020, about a month out from the next U.S. Presidential election, but Murphy recently indicated the date may be in flux as the filming schedule has changed.
Impeachment originally was supposed to begin shooting in February, but start of production has been pushed as Murphy is directing Prom with Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and James Corden, and Paulson is taking a couple of months off for her transformation as Linda Tripp.
Owen’s casting comes in the midst of the impeachment hearing against President Donald Trump. Despite the confluence of events, the current impeachment proceedings are not influencing Impeachment: ACS, which chronicles events from two decades ago.
“We do a show that is very thoroughly fact-checked and vetted and based on bestselling books by Jeffrey Toobin,” Murphy told Deadline earlier this week. “I think the reason why it’s interesting is because you don’t have to change anything to feel modern. And I think that idea of impeachment obviously with Trump is fascinating. I wouldn’t say that we’re changing things that much or mentioning Trump at all in our narrative.”
The first installment of ACS, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, received 22 Emmy nominations and won nine. It also won Golden Globe, BAFTA, AFI, PGA and WGA awards, and it won the TCA Awards for 2016 Program of the Year. The second installment, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, was nominated for 19 Emmys and won seven including Outstanding Limited Series. Versace also won the Golden Globe for Best Limited Series, as well as AFI, TCA and PGA awards.
Owen received an Oscar nomination for Closer and was most recently seen in Gemini Man. On TV, he headlined The Knick and will also star opposite Julianne Moore in the Apple limited series Lisey’s Story, produced by J.J. Abrams. He is repped by CAA and Hirsch Wallerstein.
NedThomas on November 15th, 2019 at 19:29 UTC »
Considering this is produced by Lewinsky, I’m very interested to see how Ken Starr is portrayed.
pittiedaddy on November 15th, 2019 at 19:13 UTC »
Unless John Goodman is playing Linda Tripp, I'll pass.
tehvolcanic on November 15th, 2019 at 18:05 UTC »
Now I have to hear his Clinton impression.