Armed with a black beret and blue dress, Beanie Feldstein has unveiled a first look at her performance as Monica Lewinsky in Impeachment: American Crime Story. “Every side has a story,” she captioned an Instagram post with the show’s first official poster, teasing its September 7 release date.
The upcoming third season of Ryan Murphy’s anthology series revolves around President Bill Clinton’s impeachment, spurred by his indiscretions with a White House intern. The season is based on the 1999 book A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President by Jeffrey Toobin—himself no stranger to a scandal. This installment follows Emmy-winning American Crime Story seasons about the O.J. Simpson trial and the murder of Gianni Versace.
Clive Owen has been cast as Clinton, while Edie Falco will play Hillary Clinton. In true Murphy fashion, the show is filled out with a starry cast, including Sarah Paulson as Linda Tripp, Annaleigh Ashford as Paula Jones, Taran Killam as Steve Jones, Billy Eichner as Matt Drudge, Margo Martindale as Lucianne Goldberg, and Anthony Green as former vice president Al Gore. Betty Gilpin, who was originally cast as Ann Coulter, reportedly dropped out of the project due to scheduling conflicts. (“I listened to all those Ann Coulter audiobooks for nothing,” Gilpin chillingly told SlashFilm in June.)
When sharing a first look at the show, Feldstein also tagged several actors, including Judith Light, Mira Sorvino, Elizabeth Reaser, and Colin Hanks.
Murphy has reportedly been angling to recount the Clinton affair onscreen since 2017, but waited until he could secure Lewinsky’s involvement. “Nobody should tell your story but you, and it’s kind of gross if they do,” the mogul reportedly told her at a party in 2018. “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.”
In a statement to Vanity Fair, Lewinsky (who is also a V.F. contributor) wrote that she was persuaded to join the series “after a lengthy dinner meeting with Ryan,” where “I came to understand even more clearly how dedicated he is to giving a voice to the marginalized in all of his brilliant work.” She added, “People have been co-opting and telling my part in this story for decades. In fact, it wasn’t until the past few years that I’ve been able to fully reclaim my narrative; almost 20 years later.”
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