ART IMITATES TRUMP

Brendan Gleeson Cast as Trump in CBS Miniseries Based on James Comey Book

Jeff Daniels has been cast as the former FBI director.

Brendan Gleeson, the Irish actor best known for playing Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody in Harry Potter, will now take on the role of President Trump in a forthcoming limited series. The four-hour-long show by CBS Studios is based on the bestselling political tell-all A Higher Loyalty by former FBI Director James Comey that recounts his direction of the Hillary Clinton email investigation leading up to the 2016 election, and his unceremonious firing early on in Trump’s presidency. Actor Jeff Daniels will star as Comey in the series which will air on Showtime or CBS All Access at a to-be-determined date.

“It’s hard to imagine a bigger acting challenge than playing Donald Trump,” director Billy Ray, known for films Captain Phillips and Shattered Glass, said in a statement to TVLine. “You have to have presence, and a singular kind of dynamism. You also have to have the courage and the will to play Trump’s psychology from the inside out. Oh, and you have to be spectacularly talented and watchable. Not many actors check all those boxes. Brendan does. I’m ecstatic about this.”