Official cast photos from Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson depict Cuba Gooding Jr., John Travolta, David Schwimmer and Courtney B. Vance.
Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as O.J. Simpson in the anthology series based on the American athlete’s highly publicized trial and conviction.
Based on Jeffrey Toobin’s book The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson, the first (of what is presumed to be many) American Crime Story series will be directed by Ryan Murphy (American Horror Story, Glee).
Murphy’s frequent collaborator Brad Falchuk is set to produce with Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson.
Although the series doesn’t premiere until 2016, The Hollywood Reporter has already unveiled the first cast photos, showing some of the biggest players in the case.
In 1995, football player and media personality O.J. Simpson was tried for the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her acquaintance Ronald Goldman. His attempted escape was watched live by millions, and case proceedings made national headlines.
Simpson was initially declared Not Guilty, but in a civil court was later determined to have “wrongfully caused the death” of the two victims. In 2007, Simpson was jailed and remains behind bars for kidnapping and robbery.
In American Crime Story, John Travolta plays Robert Shapiro, a prominent member of Simpson’s legal defense team.
Shapiro was later pushed aside for Johnnie Cochran (Courtney B. Vance), who rose to prominence as the course proceedings intensified.
David Schwimmer, who you’ll of course recognize from Friends, has held a relatively low profile in Hollywood, directing and appearing mainly in indie projects.
But he’ll return to the spotlight as Robert Kardashian, a close friend of O.J. Simpson, who also participated in Simpson’s defense. Although Robert passed away in 2003, you may have heard of his ex-wife Kris and their children…
Billy Magnussen will play Kato Kaelin, a witness who lived in Simpson’s guest house at the time of the murders.
And finally, Sarah Paulson of American Horror Story fame is Marcia Clark, the head prosecutor in O.J. Simpson’s trial.
Also starring are Selma Blair as Kris Kardashian, Jordana Brewster as Denise Brown, Connie Britton as Faye Resnick, Kelly Dowdle as Nicole Brown Simpson, and Kenneth Choi as Judge Lance Ito.
What do you think of the cast line-up?