Handmaid's Tale and Downton Abbey stars join Game of Thrones bosses' new drama
Bradley Whitford and Tuppence Middleton have joined the cast of Death by Lightning.
Fresh from the renewal of their Netflix sci-fi series 3 Body Problem, Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss are executive producing a new drama featuring an all-star cast.
The series, which has been created by Mike Makowsky and will be based on the book Destiny Of The Republic by Candice Millard, will be titled Death by Lightning, and will tell the story of James Garfield, the 20th US president, and his greatest admirer Charles Guiteau, who went on to kill him.
As was previously announced, Michael Shannon will play Garfield, while Matthew Macfadyen will play Guiteau. They will be joined by other previously announced stars Betty Gilpin and Nick Offerman.
Now, further cast members have been confirmed, with The Handmaid’s Tale's Bradley Whitford playing Secretary of State James Blaine, Joker's Shea Whigham playing Senator Roscoe Conkling and Downton Abbey's Tuppence Middleton joining as Kate Chase Sprague.
Other actors playing recurring roles include Civil War's Stephen McKinley Henderson as Senator Blanche Bruce and Parish's Paula Malcomson as Guiteau's sister Franny Scoville.
Read more:
- Industry reveals first look at Kit Harington's debut in season 3
- Game of Thrones writers were "terrified" by new series 3 Body Problem
Benioff and Weiss famously faced a huge amount of criticism following the end of Game of Thrones, with many fans unhappy with how the series concluded.
Benioff spoke with RadioTimes.com ahead of 3 Body Problem's debut and explained how they have come to react to the quantity of opinions coming their way.
"I think in the middle of the Thrones process, we realised that both for reasons of general productivity and mental health, that plugging into that isn't helpful," he explained. "Trying to pay attention to what to what a million people or more are saying – we're not just built to handle that; we're not evolved to handle that.
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"Making a show already involves having to pay very close attention to what dozens or hundreds of people are saying at any given time, and that's the job, and if you don't do that, you're not going to do the job very well.
"To try to do that while listening to millions of voices that are coming to you through your little black device of one kind or another, that's not helpful, at least in our minds. There might be people who are maybe more digitally native than we are, who grew up with it and it's just a part of the way they process the world, but it's not for us."
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Authors
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
