Downton Abbey and Beauty and the Beast star Dan Stevens is set to replace Armie Hammer in Starz’s upcoming series Gaslit, which also stars Julia Roberts (Erin Brokovich) and Sean Penn (Milk).
The series is based on the first season of Slate podcast Slow Burn, which launched in 2017. It will be produced by Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail and writer Robbie Pickering, who will also serve as showrunner.
IMDB describes Gaslit as a “modern take” on the Watergate scandal, a major political scandal involving the Nixon administration, and claimed that it will focus on “untold stories and forgotten characters of the time.” Such characters include Arkansan socialite Martha Mitchell (Roberts) who, despite her marriage to Nixon’s attorney general John Mitchell (Penn), was one of the first people to publicly call attention to Nixon’s role in Watergate.
Source: FRAZER HARRISON/GETTY IMAGES
According to Deadline Stevens, who is best known for playing Matthew Crawley in the popular historical drama series Downton Abbey, will take over Hammer’s role as John Dean, a former attorney who served as White House counsel for President Nixon.
Sources also told Deadline in January that Hammer “quietly left” the series due to a “scheduling conflict with another series, The Offer,” a few weeks before the controversy over the actor’s alleged private Instagram messages came to light. It has not yet been confirmed whether Hammer sent the explicit messages, screenshots of which have been shared online. However, they appear to show him describing graphic sexual fantasies such as rape and cannibalism. The controversy has significantly impacted his career, causing him to drop out of the film Shotgun Wedding—in which he was set to star alongside Jennifer Lopez—as well as several other projects. In February, Hammer was dropped by his agency and publicist, and in March he was reported to be under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department following allegations of rape.
Brothers Joel and Nash Edgerton—who were originally set to star in, direct and produce Gaslit—are no longer attached to the series, Deadline reported.
Gaslit is set to begin production later this spring, although the exact date remains unspecified.
Words by Brianna Silva
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