The Main Relationship in 'Impeachment: American Crime Story' Is Lewinsky and Tripp
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
This is not a drill, people. After a lengthy hiatus in which its future seemed uncertain, FX's anthology series American Crime Story is officially coming back for a third season—and it will, as rumored since 2017, tackle the saga of Bill Clinton's affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and his subsequent impeachment.
It was announced in 2019 that the third season of the Emmy-winning Ryan Murphy series, titled Impeachment: American Crime Story, would be based on Jeffrey Toobin’s book A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President. And now, after a year's worth of delays due to scheduling and the pandemic, we have an official release date and teaser trailer.
Here's what we know about Impeachment: American Crime Story so far.
Impeachment will premiere on Tuesday, September 7.
Impeachment: American Crime Story will premiere on Tuesday, September 7, at 10 p.m. ET on FX.
The updated premiere date was announced in June, and it's a year later than the show was originally scheduled to premiere. The original premiere date in September 2020 would have come right before the presidential election, but due to delays caused by the pandemic, the show didn't begin production until fall 2020.
The cast includes Sarah Paulson, Beanie Feldstein, and Clive Owen.
The cast for Impeachment: American Crime Story includes both newcomers and MVPs of the Ryan Murphy cinematic universe. Sarah Paulson, who won an Emmy for playing Marcia Clark in the show's first season, The People v. O.J. Simpson, is returning to the series for Impeachment, as well as Annaleigh Ashford, who appeared in the second season, The Assassination of Gianni Versace.
As for the newcomers, Impeachment will be led by Beanie Feldstein, of Booksmart and Lady Bird fame, starring as Monica Lewinsky. The Clintons will be played by Clive Owen, as President Bill Clinton, and Edie Falco, as First Lady Hillary Clinton. Cobie Smulders was also added to the cast later on to play conservative pundit Anne Coulter, after Betty Gilpin exited the role.
Here's the full cast this season:
Beanie Feldstein as Monica Lewinsky
Clive Owen as Bill Clinton
Edie Falco as Hilary Clinton
Sarah Paulson as Linda Tripp
Annaleigh Ashford as Paula Jones
Margo Martindale as Lucianne Goldberg
Billy Eichner as Matt Drudge
Taran Killam as Steve Jones
Cobie Smulders as Anne Coulter
Monica Lewinsky is an executive producer on Impeachment.
Perhaps most excitingly of all though? Lewinsky herself will serve as an executive producer on the series, which represents a long overdue chance for her to tell her own story. It's also Murphy making good on a promise he made last year, back when it looked as though the Lewinsky season of ACS had been axed altogether. At that time, Murphy told The Hollywood Reporter that he had had second thoughts about the concept. "I told her, 'Nobody should tell your story but you, and it's kind of gross if they do,'" he said. "'If you want to produce it with me, I would love that; but you should be the producer and you should make all the goddamn money.'" And now here we are!
Production began in October 2020.
Impeachment: American Crime Story was officially announced in August 2019, after the season was briefly scrapped in 2018. FX chairman John Landgraf announced then that the series would be written by Sarah Burgess, who will also be an executive producer alongside Murphy, Lewinsky, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Brad Falchuk, Larry Karaszewski, Scott Alexander, Alexis Martin Woodall, and Sarah Paulson.
“FX’s American Crime Story franchise has become a cultural touchstone, providing greater context for stories that deserve greater understanding like the O.J. Simpson trial and saga, and Andrew Cunanan’s tragic crime spree which concluded with the assassination of Gianni Versace,” Landgraf said. In similar fashion, “Impeachment: American Crime Story will likewise explore the overlooked dimensions of the women who found themselves caught up in the scandal and political war that cast a long shadow over the Clinton Presidency,” he said.
Impeachment's first teaser shows Monica Lewinsky in the White House.
The first teaser trailer dropped August 5, exciting fans who have been waiting for the season since 2017. The teaser shows the back of then intern Lewinsky (Feldstein) as she walks through the White House to meet then President Clinton (Owen). As she arrives at the Oval Office, with a gift for Clinton hidden in a folder, we hear Clinton's secretary say, "Mr. President, Ms. Lewinsky's here to see you." Just before Clinton turns around, the screen fades to black.
Beyond setting up the scandal that sets off the season, the trailer hints that Lewinsky's point of view will be essential to the story, since it literally follows her as she goes to meet Clinton. Given the recent trend of retelling the stories of maligned women and correcting the popular perception (shout-out to You're Wrong About and #FreeBritney), this is bound to be a fascinating watch.
A second teaser trailer shows Lewinsky and Tripp come face-to-face.
In a new teaser trailer for Impeachment, Linda Tripp (Sarah Paulson) interrogates a shaken Monica Lewinsky (Beanie Feldstein) as she encourages her to come forward with the secret between her and the president. Also, Feldstein and Paulson walk down an eerily lit hallway in the White House, giving us our first full look of both actresses in character.
The official trailer is simply chilling.
Suddenly it's 1998 again. In the official trailer for Impeachment, viewers get a first look at the chaos that ensued behind White House doors once President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky's hidden affair suddenly made front page news. Sarah Paulson completely transforms into Linda Tripp in the minute-and-a-half long clip and Feldstein's portrayal as Lewinsky is sure to bring in all the awards show buzz.
A second trailer depicts events leading up to the impeachment trial.
FX released a second trailer for Impeachment, which goes deeper into the machinations behind Clinton's impeachment trial. In addition to showing new scenes of Tripp, including one where she yells into a phone,"Monica can never know," the trailer shows hints of the Republican effort to impeach Clinton. At one point, a man tells trip, "They will not stop until they find a crime."
Impeachment's central relationship is the friendship between Lewinsky and Tripp.
In a virtual panel, the show's cast and crew shared more insight into the show's focus, which will be wider than the Lewinsky-Clinton affair itself. Feldstein said that she considers the friendship-gone-wrong between Lewinsky and Tripp to be the central relationship of the show, per Entertainment Tonight.
She also said that Paula Jones' journey plays a large part in the show. "It has been just an incredible journey of two women and... as an audience member, you feel each of these three women and you understand them and yet you're screaming at them through the screen, 'Stop, stop, stop!,' in all different ways and I think it's because they're all deeply trusting and deeply mistrusting of the right and the wrong people. And it gets very complicated for all of them," she said.
Beanie Feldstein felt like Monica Lewinsky's "bodyguard."
Feldstein also opened up about her experience filming Impeachment during the virtual panel, sharing that she worked very closely with Monica Lewinsky, per Entertainment Tonight. "She was really giving with me, in that she would answer anything I had questions about but it was easier and more useful for me to be around her spirit and text her and we would send videos to each other. We have more of a friendship than it was ever me calling her to ever consult her on a specific scene or anything like that," Feldstein said.
The Booksmart actor also shared that she felt very protective of Lewinsky's story. "I made it very clear to her when we started filming that I saw myself as her bodyguard. I was like, 'I'm putting my body in for you. I'm going to protect you. I have your back. I know your heart. And that's my job,'" she said.
The show won't depict any sex scenes between Lewinsky and Clinton.
In an interview with TheWrap, writer Sarah Burgess revealed that Impeachment will not include any explicit depictions of the Clinton-Lewinsky affair. Burgess told the outlet that the reason behind the creative decision is that enough of the public already knows the “graphic sexual detail” of the affair.
Executive producer Nina Jacobson told the outlet, "You’ll see, as you see the rest of the season, that we are very mindful of what we show when, and why, and what we don’t show, and why. And it definitely was a very calculated instinct and I think a really good one from Sarah and something that I think we knew early, early on, collectively, that we wanted to approach it the way it ultimately is approached. But also let the series speak to that as you get to the last episodes."
Watch this space for updates.
You Might Also Like
