Michael Fassbender Leaves ‘The Agency’ Behind in First Look at Netflix’s 8-Part Historical Epic
Whenever Michael Fassbender has been tapped to lend his talents to a historical drama, the results have typically been stellar. His first Oscar nomination came in 2014 for his supporting role as notorious slave owner Edwin Epps in Steve McQueen‘s Best Picture-winning 12 Years a Slave. Fast-forward to 2016, and he’d again get a nod for a golden statuette, this time in a leading role for playing Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in, well, Steve Jobs, directed by Danny Boyle and penned by Aaron Sorkin. Now, he’s about to take on another legendary figure who stood at the top of one of America’s most powerful families.
Netflix has shared the first behind-the-scenes look at Fassbender as Joseph Kennedy Sr. in the new decades-spanning historical series Kennedy. Based on Fredrik Logevall’s book, JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956, the show will dig deep into what made the Kennedy clan the equivalent of the royal family in America, from the loves to the rivalries and the many tragedies that befell them. It’s been described as a sort of U.S. counterpart to The Crown, with Season 1 slated to follow Joe Sr.’s ascent, along with his wife Rose Kennedy and their nine children. Among the many siblings, second son Jack, in particular, seeks to break out from the shadow of his golden boy older brother and carve his own path.
In addition to the photo, the cast received a major expansion, with 13 new names added in and around the Kennedy family. Georgina Bitmead will play Eunice Kennedy, alongside Miley Locke as younger Kick Kennedy, Tipper Seifert-Cleveland as younger Rosemary Kennedy, Hera Hilmar as Inga Arvad, Wyatt Russell as Charles Lindbergh, Patrick Fischler as Arthur Krock, Caitlin FitzGerald as Clare Boothe Luce, Louis Landau as Billy Cavendish, Robin Soans as Neville Chamberlain, Denis O’Hare as Raymond Furness, Albert Welling as Winston Churchill, Toby Huss as Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Eddie Marsan as J. Edgar Hoover. They all join a stacked cast led by Fassbender as the Kennedy patriarch, Laura Donnelly as Rose Kennedy, Nick Robinson as Joe Kennedy Jr., and newcomer Joshuah Melnick as Jack Kennedy, with previously announced recurring roles by Lydia Peckham, Saura Lightfoot-Leon, Ben Miles, Cole Doman, and Imogen Poots.
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Who Are the Minds Behind ‘Kennedy’?
Covering the saga of the Kennedy family will be an ambitious undertaking, to say the least, but Netflix has a few seasoned creatives on board to bring it all together. Manhattan creator and Castle Rock writer Sam Shaw serves as both showrunner and executive producer for Kennedy, with Festen‘s Thomas Vinterberg directing. Chernin Entertainment is backing the project, and Peter Chernin is attached as an executive producer alongside Jenno Topping and Kaitlin Dahill through his banner, joining Eric Roth, Fredrik Logevall, Lila Byock, Anya Epstein, Dustin Thomason, and Anna O’Malley. For Fassbender, this marks his second prominent television role of late, as he’s currently still awaiting the release of Season 2 of his spy thriller series The Agency.
There is no date for when Kennedy will arrive on Netflix. Stay tuned here at Collider for more on the decadent new historical series as more updates come out.
- Release Date
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November 29, 2024
- Network
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Paramount+ with Showtime
- Directors
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Joe Wright
