John Travolta is to return to TV acting in a major role for the first time in 36 years in ‘American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson’.
The 60-year-old actor – who shot to fame in ABC sitcom ‘Welcome Back, Kotter’ from 1975 to 1979 – will portray the American footballer-turner-murder suspect’s defence attorney Robert Shapiro in ‘Glee’ creator Ryan Murphy’s 10-part miniseries, in which Cuba Gooding Jr. will portray the main character.
John – who made a guest appearance in Kirstie Alley’s small screen sitcom ‘Kirstie’ last year – will star alongside David Schwimmer, who will play Robert Kardashian, who worked on O.J’s defence team throughout the 1995 trial and is also the late father of Kim, Khloe, Kourtney and Rob Kardashian.
The FX miniseries is based on the best-selling book ‘The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson’ by Jeffrey Toobin and will be told from the lawyers’ point of view in Simpson’s two-count murder trial.
The series will feature several different aspects of how and why the jury came to its conclusion that O.J. was not guilty of the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.
‘American Horror Story’ star Sarah Paulson will reunite with Murphy in the crime thriller after he cast her in the role of prosecutor Marcia Clark.
Murphy will direct at least the first episode of the series – the first of his and Brad Falchuk’s ‘American Crime Story’ anthology projects, which will see major news stories brought to life on small screen dramas – and work as executive producer alongside Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson.
Production is expected to start early this year in Los Angeles.
John Travolta returns to TV acting
