As Martha Mitchell, the outspoken wife of President Nixon’s U.S. attorney general John Mitchell, Julia Roberts has a lot to say in the trailer for upcoming Starz limited series “Gaslit.”
The show, which stars an unrecognizable Sean Penn as Martha’s husband, John, tells the “untold stories and forgotten characters of the scandal – from Nixon’s bumbling and opportunistic subordinates to the deranged zealots aiding and abetting their crimes to the tragic whistleblowers who would eventually bring the whole rotten enterprise crashing down.”
The series, which premieres April 24 at 8 p.m. PT/ET on the premium cabler, is centered around Roberts’ character. She’s described as “a big personality with an even bigger mouth,” and an Arkansan socialite. She’s the first person to sound the alarm about Nixon’s involvement in Watergate.
John (Penn) is a “temperamental, foul-mouthed and ruthless – yet hopelessly in love with his famously outspoken wife.” In the show, he’ll be forced to choose between Martha and the President.
The “Gaslit” cast includes Dan Stevens as John Dean, Betty Gilpin as Mo Dean, Shea Whigham as G. Gordon Liddy and Darby Camp as Marty Mitchell.
“Gaslit” is executive produced by Robbie Pickering, who is also the showrunner. Matt Ross directed and executive produced. Sam Esmail, via his overall deal with UCP, and Chad Hamilton are also EPs via their production banner Esmail Corp. Roberts executive produced under her banner Red Om Films, along with co-executive producers Lisa Gillan and Marisa Yeres Gill. Anonymous Content and Slate’s Gabriel Roth and Josh Levin also executive produced. Leon Neyfakh, who created the podcast, served as consultant.
UCP produced the sereis for Starz.