Lionsgate has published new images for Gaslit, giving us our first glance at some of the actors for the highly anticipated show. In the episode, Julia Roberts portrays Martha Mitchell, the wife of Attorney General John N. Mitchell (Sean Penn). Martha became one of the most prominent public figures during the Watergate scandal, a role that made her a priority for the Republican Party.
Allison Tolman as Winnie McLendon, the journalist who would become Martha Mitchell’s biographer, is seen for the first time in the new photographs. McLendon first dismisses Martha as just another bored affluent wife. However, when Martha chooses to utilize her privileged position to condemn President Nixon’s misbehavior, McLendon finds himself in the heart of the Watergate investigations. The photographs also offer us our first look at Hamish Linklater in the role of Jeb Magruder, John Mitchell’s right-hand man and one of the Watergate conspirators.
The new photographs also offer us a better look at Patrick Walker as Frank Wills, the security guard who unwittingly exposes one of the country’s largest corruption networks. Wills is the first to gather evidence tying the Republican Party to unlawful political espionage. Finally, fresh Galist pictures reveal Chris Messina as Angelo Lano and Carlos Valdes as Paul Magallanes, two FBI agents assigned to the Watergate investigation.
Gaslit will recount the narrative of Martha during the Watergate crisis, and how she was kidnapped and drugged to quiet her voice with the help of her own husband. During the Watergate inquiry, Martha’s intimate knowledge of the Republican Party transformed her into danger to President Nixon, prompting unscrupulous politicians to launch a public defamation campaign to ruin Martha by any means possible.
Robbie Pickering, the showrunner, developed Gaslit. The first season of Leon Neyfakh‘s podcast Slow Burn served as inspiration for the program. Gaslit featured Neyfakh as a creative consultant, with filmmaker Matt Ross (Captain Fantastic, 28 Hotel Rooms) serving as executive producer, along with Esmail Corp’s Sam Esmail and Chad Hamilton, Anonymous Content’s Gabriel Roth and Josh Levin, and Slate’s Gabriel Roth and Josh Levin. Co-executive producers will be Lisa Gillan and Marisa Yeres Gill.
Dan Stevens portrays John Dean, Betty Gilpin portrays Mo Dean, Shea Whigham portrays G. Gordon Liddy, and Darby Camp portrays Marty Mitchell in Gaslit. Pickering said of the series’ perspective on the Watergate incident, “Martha was the first and loudest voice to speak out against the sloppy crime of a dishonest Presidential administration, and she was one of the most difficult public martyrs of the period.”
The debut of Gaslit is set for April 24 on Starz. Take a look at the fresh photographs in the gallery below.
