Netflix‘s new historical drama Death By Lightning continues to add more firepower to its already starry cast. Five more additions are set to join Michael Shannon‘s President James Garfield and Matthew Macfadyen‘s Charles Guiteau, including Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One star Shea Whigham and Get Out alum Bradley Whitford as series regulars. They’re set to play Senator Roscoe Conkling and Secretary of State James Blaine respectively, with Stephen McKinley Henderson, Paula Malcomson, and Tuppence Middleton also coming aboard as Senator Blanche Bruce, Guiteau’s sister Franny Scoville, and Kate Chase Sprague.
Based on Candice Millard‘s book Destiny Of The Republic, Death By Lightning tracks the reluctant presidency of Garfield, America’s 20th Commander-in-Chief, whose first term was cut extremely short after he was assassinated. The series promises a “stranger than fiction” tale as it shows his rise to the highest office in the land and how his greatest admirer, Guiteau, would eventually become his undoing. With this latest casting news, it’s clear that the show will be a window into Guiteau’s life and the political figures surrounding Garfield during his unusual presidency. Nick Offerman and Betty Gilpin are also set to appear.
The series will bring Whitford back to Washington D.C. years after his Emmy-winning run on The West Wing came to a close, albeit in a much different era and as a much more controversial figure. He was most recently seen joining Giancarlo Esposito on the small screen in AMC‘s Parish. Whigham‘s last television dalliance came last year with Lawman: Bass Reeves, though his biggest project of note from 2023 came opposite Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One which he’ll build on with the release of Mission: Impossible 8 next year. Death By Lightning also marks a reunion for him with his Take Shelter co-star Shannon. Henderson, Malcomson, and Middleton all have taken on some big roles of late too, with Malcomson also coming over from Parish and Bass Reeves while Henderson enters fresh off of Civil War.
‘Death By Lightning’ Is the Latest Project for David Benioff and D.B. Weiss
In addition to the talented cast, the creative team is similarly stacked. Coming off the wild success of their sci-fi adaptation 3 Body Problem, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are once again working with Netflix on the project, this time as executive producers with Bernie Caulfield under their Bighead Littlehead banner as part of an overall deal. The show is created by Mike Makowsky in what will be his first television series writing credit after penning the screenplays for the Emmy-winning HBO movie Bad Education and I Think We’re Alone Now. Captain Fantastic helmer Matt Ross will serve as series director and executive producer.
There’s no release date yet for Death By Lightning. Stay tuned here at Collider for more on the historical drama as it finishes filling out its cast. In the meantime, check out our previous SXSW interview with Benioff, Weiss, and Alexander Woo for 3 Body Problem below.
via Collider