The James Comey miniseries currently in the works at CBS Television Studios has added three to its cast.
“Halt and Catch Fire” star Scoot McNairy has signed on to play former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in the four-part series, with “When They See Us” alum William Sadler to play former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and “Grey’s Anatomy’s” T. R. Knight to play former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.
The miniseries, based on Comey’s memoir “A Higher Loyalty,” stars Jeff Daniels as the former FBI director and takes a look at the Trump presidency and its potential clashes with constitutional law. The previously confirmed cast also includes Holly Hunter, Michael Kelly, Jennifer Ehle, Peter Coyote, Steven Pasquale, Oona Chaplin, and Brendan Gleeson as Donald Trump.
The project is written by “Richard Jewell” and “Captain Phillips” writer Billy Ray and comes from Alex Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout and Shane Salerno’s The Story Factory. Filming is set to being this month, with the project slated for CBS All Access or Showtime, potentially both.
The book, which was released in April 2018 by Flatiron Books, gets its title from President Donald Trump’s alleged desire for Comey to give him a loyalty pledge. Comey was first appointed FBI director by former President Barack Obama in 2013 and was fired by Trump in May 2017.
The book shares Comey’s never-before-told experiences from some of the highest-stakes situations of his career in the past two decades of American government, exploring what good, ethical leadership looks like, and how it drives sound decisions. His journey provides an unprecedented entry into the corridors of power and a remarkable lesson in what makes an effective leader.
According to the studio, Ray researched the project for over a year in order to make the drama a “fair, responsible and comprehensively documented account of real-life events.” He traveled to Washington, D.C. and several other cities to meet with Comey, his family, and many other key players, including prominent journalists, FBI agents, government officials from both political parties and others.
Deadline first reported the news of the casting.