Sean Penn is trying to gaslight us into believing it’s really him under all that makeup in the new trailer for Gaslit, released by Starz on Wednesday. Starring alongside a nefarious Julia Roberts as Martha Mitchell, Penn plays her husband, President Nixon cronie John Mitchell. Though not a chapter of Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story, the mind-boggling transformations and epic casting sure makes Gaslit feel like part of the ACS universe.
Gaslit follows the true story of Martha Mitchell as she unravels the case of the Watergate scandal by exposing her husband, Nixon’s loyal Attorney General. Giving it that classic “nice girl gone rogue” feel, the trailer is aptly set to Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me,” which plays over Martha’s spiral into political controversy. Donning perfectly curled blond hair, iconic white-rimmed shades, and a Southern drawl, she glamorously tears the country apart.
Among the many descriptions of Martha in the trailer are “completely insane,” “loudmouth,” “truth teller,” “unreliable,” and lastly, from Betty Gilpin’s Mo Dean, “I love her.” So what’s the truth? As seen in the clip, Martha is a brave socialite who continues to betray her husband by giving interviews that expose him and the rest of the Nixon administration, publicly sounding the alarm on the Watergate scandal.
The political thriller is based on the podcast Slow Burn by Leon Neyfakh. In addition to Roberts, Penn and Gilpin, the main cast includes Dan Stevens, Shea Whigham, Darby Camp, and Aleksandar Filimonović. Recurring stars include Chris Messina, Hamish Linlater, Patton Oswalt, Allison Tolman, J.C. Mackenzie, and Chris Bauer.
Gaslit is created by Mr. Robot’s Robbie Pickering, with Matt Ross attached to direct a handful of episodes. The limited series is executive produced by Roberts, Pickering, Ross, Sam Esmail, Chad Hamilton, Gabriel Roth, Josh Levin, Nash Edgerton, and Joel Edgerton, who was originally slated to star in the show.
Gaslit premieres on April 24 on Starz.
