With production on the 10 episode anthology series now underway in LA, FX is putting the finishing touches on casting for American Crime Story. Leonard Roberts has boarded the series from Ryan Murphy in a recurring role. He will play journalist Dennis Schatzman.
According to Deadline, Leonard Roberts, whose previous credits include CSI: Miami, The Mentalist and Marvel’s Agent Carter, replaces 24: Live Another Day‘s Gbenga Akinnagbe, who was forced to drop out of the role due to filming commitments to Independence Day 2.
From Ryan Murphy, American Crime Story will focus on a new “true crime” case each season. The 10 episode freshman run, subtitled The People V. O.J. Simpson, will explore the O.J. Simpson trial told from the perspective of the lawyers and how a combination of prosecution confidence, defense wiliness, and the LAPD’s history with the city’s African-American community gave a jury what it needed: reasonable doubt.
The cast for the ten episode series includes John Travolta as Robert Shapiro, Cuba Gooding Jr as O.J. Simpson, David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian, Sarah Paulson as Deputy DA Marcia Clark, Courtney B. Vance as Johnnie Cochran, Selma Blair as Kris Jenner and Bruce Greenwood as Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti. 20th Century Fox Television and FX Productions are producing with Ryan Murphy, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Brad Falchuk, Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski and Dante Di Loreto executive producing.
