Casting has been announced for a new miniseries based on the memoir of former FBI Director James Comey, CBS News reported on Monday.
CBS is developing a still-untitled four-hour miniseries based on “A Higher Loyalty,” Comey’s 2018 best-selling memoir, according to CBS News.
Jeff Daniels, who won Emmy awards for his roles in HBO’s “Newsroom” and Netflix’s “Godless,” will be taking the role of Comey, CNN reported.
“Jeff is so perfect for this part,” director Billy Ray said in a statement, according to CBS. “Great actor, instant integrity, loads of warmth, intelligence, complexity and gravitas.”
Most recently, Daniels performed on Broadway as Atticus Finch in Aaron Sorkin’s production of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” CBS reported.
Meanwhile, Brendan Gleeson, known for playing Alastor Moody in the “Harry Potter” films, will play President Donald Trump, according to CNN.
“It’s hard to imagine a bigger acting challenge than playing Donald Trump,” Ray said of Gleeson, according to Variety. “You have to have presence, and a singular kind of dynamism. You also have to have the courage and the will to play Trump’s psychology from the inside out. Oh, and you have to be spectacularly talented and watchable. Not many actors check all those boxes. Brendan does. I’m ecstatic about this.”
In preparation for the series, Ray spent over a year doing research. He met with Comey several times, and talked with government officials, FBI agents, politicians and journalists, according to CBS.
The air date for the mini series has not yet been announced, but filming is set to begin next month, according to USA Today.