Julia Roberts to co-star with Sean Penn, reteaming with Sam Esmail in Watergate drama Gaslit

TVLine

Oscar winners Roberts and Penn will be joined by Armie Hammer and Joel Edgerton in Gaslit, a limited drama series adaptation of Slate's Watergate-themed podcast Slow Burn, which recently became an Epix docuseries. The show reunites Roberts with Homecoming director Esmail, who will serve as executive producer. In addition to co-starring, Joel Edgerton will direct along with brother Nash Edgerton. Mr. Robot vet Robbie Pickering will serve as showrunner. Gaslit is described as “a modern take on Watergate that focuses on the untold stories and forgotten characters of the scandal — from Nixon’s bumbling, opportunistic subordinates, to the deranged zealots aiding and abetting their crimes, to the tragic whistleblowers who would eventually bring the whole rotten enterprise crashing down.” Roberts will play Martha Mitchell, wife of President Richard Nixon's loyal Attorney General John Mitchell, who will be played by Penn. Hammer will play John Dean, the young White House counsel who testified against the Nixon administration. Edgerton will take on the role of G. Gordon Liddy, the chief operative of Nixon’s ‘Plumbers’ unit, who led the Watergate break-in. The Universal Content Productions show doesn't have a network attached.