Nick Offerman and Betty Gilpin are joining the cast of Death by Lightning, the Netflix historical drama from Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
Ordered straight to series earlier this month and based on the novel Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard, the series explores the “stranger-than-fiction true story” of James Garfield, the 20th president of the U.S., and “his greatest admirer” Charles Guiteau — the man who would eventually kill him.
Succession Emmy winner Matthew Macfadyen stars as Guiteau, with Michael Shannon (George & Tammy) set as Garfield. Additional castings are expected to be announced in the coming days/weeks.
Related Stories
Gilpin, who returns to Netflix after starring in GLOW for the streamer, will play former first lady Crete Garfield. Offerman, fresh off an Emmy win for his guest role in HBO’s The Last of Us, will play Chester Arthur, Garfield’s vice president who took over as president after Garfield’s death.
Mike Makowsky (Bad Education) created the series and serves as writer. He exec produces alongside Benioff and Weiss, Bernie Caulfield and Matt Ross (Captain Fantastic), with the latter set to direct.
Offerman is repped by UTA and Jackoway Austen. Gilpin is with CAA, Anonymous Content and Hansen Jacobson. The news comes as Benioff and Weiss are ramping up for the March debut of their first series that they’ve showrun under their rich Netflix overall deal, the sci-fi epic 3 Body Problem.
