Julianna Margulies joins Marti Noxon's 'Dietland' at AMC

Julianna Margulies has been cast in the upcoming AMC drama “Dietland,” Variety has learned.

The 10-episode series, based on Sarai Walker’s 2015 novel of the same name, explores society’s obsession with weight loss and beauty. Margulies will play Kitty Montgomery, a wildly ambitious magazine editor whose world is thrown into chaos when a feminist terrorist organization starts targeting people in her orbit. Sucked into a terrifying news cycle, Kitty can no longer rely on her old-school media power and must instead play a whole new game of master manipulation where rules no longer apply.

She will appear opposite Joy Nash, who was previously cast in the series lead role of Plum Kettle. Plum, an obese woman who is preparing for weight loss surgery, finds her world is upturned by two rival feminist factions. Caught between old ideas and radical new extremes, Plum must decide for herself what it means to be a revolutionary as the “war of the sexes” becomes literal. The series is slated to debut in 2018.

Marti Noxon serves as executive producer and showrunner. Skydance’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Marcy Ross also serve as executive producers along with Maria Grasso of Tiny Pyro, Bonnie Curtis and Julie Lynn of Mockingbird Pictures, and Jackie Hoyt. The series is a co-production between AMC Studios and Skydance Television under its Uncharted label.

“Juliana is diabolically talented and beautiful, which makes her perfect to play our Kitty,” Noxon said. “I am genuinely honored to have the opportunity to work with her. She’s a special human and a rare actor. I can’t wait to start and for the world to get a load of this show. I am also so grateful to AMC and Skydance for supporting us and trusting the ‘Dietland’ team with this provocative, wild story.”

Margulies is best known recently for playing the lead role in the critically-acclaimed CBS series “The Good Wife,” for which she was nominated for six Golden Globe awards, winning one. She was also nominated for four Emmy Awards for the series, again winning one. She also starred in the medical drama “ER,” for which she won an Emmy in 1995.

She is repped by WME.

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