American Crime Story

Monica Lewinsky Saga in the Works as 'American Crime Story' Season (Exclusive)


Ryan Murphy has optioned Jeffrey Toobin's book 'A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President.'

With seasons two and three of FX anthology American Crime Story already in the works, showrunner Ryan Murphy is eyeing the franchise's future beyond that.

Murphy has set his sights on exploring the Monica Lewinsky scandal for a subsequent season of the franchise, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. To that end, Murphy and American Crime Story producers Fox 21 Television Studios and FX Productions have optioned author Jeffrey Toobin's 2000 best-seller A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President as source material. Toobin's book The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson served as the inspiration for the Emmy-winning first season of the anthology. Toobin was deeply involved in the first season and served as a consultant to the writing staff.

Sources tell THR that Murphy and producers are fast-tracking the drama and already are meeting with actresses to portray Lewinsky and colleague Linda Tripp, who secretly recorded Lewinsky's conversations about her alleged affair with then-President Bill Clinton.

Clive Owen to play Bill Clinton for FX's Impeachment edition of American Crime Story

Today, in potential accent-based high crimes and misdemeanors: Clive Owen has been cast as Arkansas-born former president Bill Clinton in FX’s upcoming American Crime Story installment, Impeachment. The British actor—who recently popped up in Will Smith’s Gemini Man, after two seasons of doing the very grossest sorts of surgeries on Cinemax’s The Knick—has signed on to play Slick William himself in the network’s exploration of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, with Beanie Feldstein playing the former White House intern, who’s also producing on the show.

Murphy ran into Lewinsky at a party, and said as much. "I told her, 'Nobody should tell your story but you, and it's kind of gross if they do,'" he told the Hollywood Reporter. "'If you want to produce it with me, I would love that; but you should be the producer and you should make all the goddamn money.'"

His wish came true. Lewinsky is producing the third installment of FX's Murphy-produced American Crime Story, and is presumably making all the goddamn money.

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CLIVE OWEN WILL TAKE ON THE ROLE OF BILL CLINTON
Owen—known for his Academy Award-nominated work in Closer, as well as starring in Children of Men and Inside Man—is set to play the embattled former president, per Variety. The show is currently searching for its Hillary.

IT STARS BEANIE FELDSTEIN AS LEWINSKY.
Feldstein has quickly become a rising star in Hollywood, after her breakout roles in Booksmart and Lady Bird.

She'll share the screen with Sarah Paulson as Linda Tripp, and Annaleigh Ashford as Paula Jones.

LEWINSKY WAS HESITANT AT FIRST TO SIGN ON, BUT ULTIMATELY WENT FOR IT.
"People have been co-opting and telling my part in this story for decades," Lewinsky told Vanity Fair. "In fact, it wasn’t until the past few years that I’ve been able to fully reclaim my narrative; almost 20 years later."

She added, "But I’m so grateful for the growth we’ve made as a society that allows people like me who have been historically silenced to finally reintroduce my voice to the conversation. This isn’t just a me problem. Powerful people, often men, take advantage of those subordinate to them in myriad ways all the time. Many people will see this as such a story and for that reason, this narrative is one that is, regretfully, evergreen."

IMPEACHMENT WILL OFFER A MUCH-NEEDED REEXAMINATION OF THE SCANDAL.
FX CEO John Landgraf said the show will highlight "the overlooked dimensions of the women who found themselves caught up in the scandal and political war that cast a long shadow over the Clinton Presidency." The book is being adapted for the miniseries by playwright Sarah Burgess.

IT WON'T PREMIERE UNTIL SEPTEMBER 2020.
The first episode is slated to air on Sunday, September 27, 2020, at 10 p.m. on FX. According to a recent report from Deadline, though, that schedule may be in flux.