STARZ’S “GASLIT” IGNITES

BETTY GILPIN AND DAN STEVENS SET AS
“MO” AND “JOHN DEAN” IN THE UNTOLD STORY OF MARTHA MITCHELL’S ROLE IN EXPOSING WATERGATE

Multi-Award Winning Actor Shea Whigham Also Confirmed to Join Alongside SAG Award Nominee Darby Camp

Santa Monica, Calif. – Thursday, May 13, 2021 – STARZ announced that the Emmy^® Award nominated Betty Gilpin (“Glow,” “Masters of Sex”) and SAG and Teen Choice Award-winner Dan Stevens (“Downton Abbey,” Beauty and the Beast, “Legion”) have been cast as the infamous couple “Mo” and “John Dean” in “Gaslit,” starring Julia Roberts (“Homecoming,” Wonder) and Sean Penn (Milk, Mystic River). Also joining the cast as series regulars are three-time SAG Award winner Shea Whigham (Joker,” Perry Mason,” “Homecoming”) as “G. Gordon Liddy” and SAG Award nominee Darby Camp (The Christmas Chronicles, “Big Little Lies“) who will star as Mitchell’s daughter “Marty Mitchell.” Executive producer and series creator Robbie Pickering (“Mr. Robot,” “Search Party,” Natural Selection) will helm the high-profile series adapted from the first season of Slate’s award-winning podcast “Slow Burn” about Watergate. 

“Gaslit” is a modern take on Watergate that focuses on the untold stories and forgotten characters of the scandal – from Nixon’s bumbling, 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 story will center on Martha Mitchell, played by Roberts. A big personality with an even bigger mouth, Martha is a celebrity Arkansan socialite and wife to Nixon’s loyal Attorney General, John Mitchell, played by Penn. Despite her party affiliation, she’s the first person to publicly sound the alarm on Nixon’s involvement in Watergate, causing both the Presidency and her personal life to unravel. As Attorney General, Mitchell is Nixon’s most trusted advisor and best friend. Temperamental, foulmouthed and ruthless – yet hopelessly in love with his famously outspoken wife – he’ll be forced to choose between Martha and the President.

Gaslit Cast

Betty Gilpin will play “Mo Dean,” a former stewardess who meets John Dean on a blind date and falls in love with him just as he becomes embroiled in Watergate. Sharp and quick-thinking, Mo learns her new husband is a principal figure in the scandal as they’re both thrust onto a national stage.

Dan Stevens will play “John Dean,” a hotshot young lawyer, Dean is climbing the ranks of White House Counsel when the Watergate break-in occurs. He finds himself in the center of a political scandal, realizing that he’s bound himself to an administration that wants him to take the fall. 

Shea Whigham will play “G. Gordon Liddy,” a former FBI agent and chief operative of Nixon’s “Plumbers” unit, who spearheads the Watergate espionage operation as part of Nixon’s 1972 reelection campaign. A zealot and true believer, Liddy follows his own moral code, which drives him to protect the President at all costs.

Darby Camp will play “Marty Mitchell,” Martha Mitchell’s daughter, who spent much of her young life living in her mother’s shadow. Accustomed to being dressed up and paraded around parties, Marty has to choose between her parents as their marriage falls apart.

Along with Pickering, Matt Ross (Captain Fantastic, 28 Hotel Rooms) will direct and executive produce, and Sam Esmail (“Homecoming,” “Mr. Robot”), via his overall deal with UCP, and Chad Hamilton (“Mr. Robot,” “Homecoming”) serve as executive producers under their production banner Esmail Corp. Roberts will executive produce 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 will also executive produce. Leon Neyfakh, who created the podcast, will consult on the project. “Gaslit” is produced by UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group, for STARZ.
 
“Gaslit” will air on STARZ in the U.S. and Canada and on its international premium streaming platform Starzplay across its complete footprint in Europe, Latin America and Japan. 
 
Executive Vice President of Original Programming Karen Bailey is the STARZ executive overseeing “Gaslit.”

About STARZ

STARZ (www.starz.com), a Lionsgate company, is a leading global media streaming platform committed to delivering premium content that amplifies narratives by, about and for women and underrepresented audiences. STARZ is home to the highly-rated and first-of-its-kind STARZ app that offers the ability to stream or download STARZ premium content, as well as the flagship domestic STARZ^® service, including STARZ ENCORE, 17 premium pay TV channels, and the associated on-demand and online services.

In 2018, STARZ launched its STARZPLAY international premium streaming platform to provide subscribers access to the “best of global SVOD.” STARZPLAY, coupled with its STARZPLAY ARABIA joint venture, has expanded its global footprint into more than 55 countries throughout Europe and Latin America along with Canada, Japan, India and Indonesia.

STARZ and STARZPLAY are available across digital OTT platforms and multichannel video distributors, including cable operators, satellite television providers, and telecommunications companies around the world. In February 2021, STARZ launched #TakeTheLead, a multi-faceted and innovative inclusion initiative expanding its existing efforts to improve representation on screen, behind the camera and throughout the company.

About UNIVERSAL CONTENT PRODUCTIONS

Universal Content Productions (UCP), a division of Universal Studio Group, is a best-in-class content studio that leverages the power and scale of NBCUniversal while collaborating with visionary storytellers. The studio is responsible for commercially successful and critically acclaimed scripted and documentary programming, including “The Umbrella Academy,” “Battlestar Galactica,” “Mr. Robot,” “The Act,” “Monk,” “Homecoming,” “The Sinner,” “Suits,” “Dirty John” and “Psych.”  Upcoming titles include “Dr. Death” starring Joshua Jackson, Alec Baldwin and Christian Slater, and “Gaslit” starring Julia Roberts and Sean Penn.

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