Jeff Daniels to play James Comey in new 4-hour miniseries
James Comey is getting the Hollywood treatment.
The former FBI director fired by President Trump in 2017 will be the subject of a new miniseries from CBS TV Studios based on his book A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership, The Hollywood Reporter writes. Jeff Daniels is set to star as Comey, while Brendan Gleeson will play Trump.
Shattered Glass director Billy Ray has been tapped to helm the miniseries, saying in a statement that after seeing Daniels in To Kill a Mockingbird on Broadway, he concluded he was the "only person who could play Jim Comey," making note of his "instant integrity, loads of warmth, intelligence, complexity and gravitas." Since being controversially dismissed in 2017, an event depicted in his memoir, Comey has spoken out against Trump as someone who is "morally unfit to be president."
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Of Gleeson's casting as Trump, Ray said that to portray the president, one has "to have the courage and the will to play Trump's psychology from the inside out," which Gleeson does.
The four-hour series, Variety reports, will begin production next month, although no release date has been set, and the studio reportedly hasn't decided whether the project will air on CBS All Access, Showtime, or both. Regardless, should two-time Emmy winner Daniels earn a nomination for his performance in the series, Trump's angry tweets about the award show just might make a return.
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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
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