Naomi Watts To Play Former Fox News Anchor Gretchen Carlson For New Series

It has been a while since there has been headlining-making news about Showtime’s upcoming untitled miniseries centered on late Fox News founder, Roger Ailes. Back in June, the limited drama based on Gabriel Sherman’s bestselling book The Loudest Voice in the Room was announced. Along with the news that Russell Crowe would star as Ailes in the drama. Well, the miniseries has added another dose of star power to its cast. Crowe’s fellow Aussie, Naomi Watts, has joined him on the project.

The actress, who recently starred in Netflix’s one-season drama Gypsy is keeping her TV career going, having boarded the Showtime miniseries. Watts has signed on to star as former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson in the drama, per EW. Carlson filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Roger Ailes, after she was fired from her position on the news network. On behalf of Ailes, Fox News ended up settling the suit with Carlson. She is currently serving as the chairwoman on Miss America’s board of directors.

So, how much will Naomi Watts be featured in the show? It makes sense to expect her time to be significant as the eight-episode series is set to primarily focus on the last decade of Roger Ailes’ life, which Gretchen Carlson ended up heavily figuring into. The show’s description also points to telling the story from multiple viewpoints. Only time will reveal if one of them is Carlson’s.

Making the casting news all the more interesting is that Naomi Watts will not be the only one portraying Gretchen Carlson on-screen in the near future. The news of Watts’ casting comes as one of her closest friends, Nicole Kidman, is also set to portray Carlson in a movie. Thanks to one actress playing Carlson on television, and the other in a film, they will not have to go head-to-head during the awards season frenzy over the same role.

The Showtime series is set to be a major player when awards season comes around with the two-time Oscar-nominated, Naomi Watts, arguably an early contender in the limited series categories. That said, Big Little Lies Season 2 will almost certainly be a factor during the upcoming awards season. Whether this untitled Roger Ailes drama will have premiered in time to go against it, will be interesting to watch.

Television is currently enduring an embarrassment of riches when it comes to mega-star talent making forays onto the smaller screen. It is an excellent sign that an actress of Naomi Watts’ skill is keeping her television career going. When you will get to watch Watts starring as Gretchen Carlson in the Showtime miniseries is currently unknown. A premiere date for it has not been announced yet, so stay tuned. In the meantime, there will be lots of new fall television to keep viewers busy.