The third season of FX’s American Crime Story, which focuses on the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, has found its POTUS.
Clive Owen will join Sarah Paulson, Beanie Feldstein and Annaleigh Ashford in the cast for Impeachment: American Crime Story. The season will tell the story of Clinton’s impeachment through the eyes of three women central to the probe: Monica Lewinsky (Feldstein), Linda Tripp (Paulson) and Paula Jones (Ashford). Lewinsky is also a producer on the coming season, which is due to air in 2020.
The third season of the anthology is based on Jeffrey Toobin’s book A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President. FX chief John Landgraf told The Hollywood Reporter that then-first lady Hillary Clinton is “not one of the main characters” in the story, though the casting of Owen suggests Bill Clinton will be heavily featured.
The Hillary Clinton role is still being cast.
Impeachment is the second TV project Owen has signed onto in recent weeks; he’s also set to star with Julianne Moore in Lisey’s Story, an adaptation of the Stephen King novel, for Apple TV+.
Production on Impeachment is scheduled to begin in the spring for a fall premiere. Sarah Burgess is writing and will executive produce with ACS staples Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Larry Karaszewski, Scott Alexander and Alexis Martin Woodall; Paulson and Feldstein are also EPs. Henrietta Conrad and Jemima Khan are producers along with Lewinsky. The series comes from Fox 21 and FX Productions.
Murphy optioned Toobin’s book in 2017, but later had second thoughts about doing a season on the Clinton-Lewinsky story.
“I told [Lewinsky], ‘Nobody should tell your story but you, and it’s kind of gross if they do,'” Murphy told The Hollywood Reporter in April 2018. “‘If you want to produce it with me, I would love that; but you should be the producer and you should make all the goddamn money.'”
Owen is repped by CAA and Hirsch Wallerstein.
Deadline first reported the news.
