Kate McKinnon joins Annapurna’s Roger Ailes drama
SNL’s Kate McKinnon is set to join the growing ensemble to Annapurna’s Fair and Balanced, according to Deadline. The Ghostbusters star will play a fictional producer in the movie.
The biopic is described mostly as an ensemble piece, with the majority of the focus being on Roger Ailes (John Lithgow, The Crown). Along with Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman, The Beguiled), other characters that will be included in the film are Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron, Atomic Blonde), former anchor Greta Van Susteren, Rupert Murdoch, and former host Bill O’Reilly.
Allison Janney recently signed on to play Susan Estrich, Ailes’ attorney who represented him after multiple workers at Fox News accused him of workplace sexual harassment.
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The film will focus primarily on the rise and fall of Ailes’ career at Fox News. His influence in Republican circles helped him assist in the election of a couple of presidents such as Richard Nixon and George Bush. Ailes’ public resignation in 2016 was as a result of numerous sexual misconduct allegations surfacing in the media.
Janney is coming fresh off of winning an Oscar for her role in the Tonya Harding biopic, I, Tonya, with this film reuniting her and star Margot Robbie, who was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her role as the disgraced figure skater.
Annapurna is financing and producing the feature. Director Jay Roach (Game Change) is set to direct the film and Charles Randolph has penned the script for the project. Theron will also be producing the feature along with Beth Kong and AJ Dix via Denver & Delilah. Roach, Randolph, and Margaret Riley are also producing.
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