Bradley Whitford & Shea Whigham Join Netflix’s ‘Death By Lightning’, 3 Others Cast

Nellie Andreeva
·2-min read

Bradley Whitford (The Handmaid’s Tale), and Shea Whigham (Joker) have been tapped as series regulars on Netflix’s new drama series Death by Lightning, joining previously cast Matthew Macfadyen, Michael Shannon, Betty Gilpin and Nick Offerman. Additionally, Stephen McKinley Henderson (Civil War), Paula Malcomson (Parish) and Tuppence Middleton (Downton Abbey) are set as recurring on the series, executive produced by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

Stephen McKinley Henderson, Paula Malcomson and Tuppence Middleton
Stephen McKinley Henderson, Paula Malcomson and Tuppence Middleton

Created, written and executive produced by Mike Makowsky based on the book Destiny Of The Republic by Candice Millard, Death by Lightning tells the stranger-than-fiction true story of James Garfield (Shannon), reluctant 20th president of the United States, and his greatest admirer Charles Guiteau (Macfadyen) — the man who would come to kill him.

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Whitford will play Secretary of State James Blaine. Whigham will portray Senator Roscoe Conkling. McKinley Henderson will play Senator Blanche Bruce, Malcomson will portray Franny Scoville, sister of Charles Guiteau; and Middleton joins as Kate Chase Sprague.

Bernie Caulfield also executive produces. Matt Ross (28 Hotel Rooms) is director and executive producer of all episodes.

Whitford plays Commander Lawrence on Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, which is headed to its sixth and final season. The role has earned him his third Emmy. (He previously won for The West Wing and Transparent.) Whitford recurs on AMC’s drama Parish opposite Giancarlo Esposito. On the film side, he was recently seen in Rosaline. Whitford is repped by Gersh, Greenlight Management, and Michael Mahan of Peikoff Mahan.

Whigham had a major role in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, which he is reprising in the upcoming eighth movie in the franchise. In TV, he recently recurred opposite Shannon on Showtime’s Waco: The Aftermath and appeared on The Righteous Gemstones and Bass Reeves. Whigham is repped by Range Media Partners and WME.

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