Ryan Murphy’s hotly anticipated new series American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson, otherwise known as that new show following the behind-the-scenes antics during the O.J. Simpson trial, has cast some huge names to appear during Season 1. Today, Murphy revealed that Friday Night Lights, Nashville and American Horror Story actress Connie Britton has signed on to the FX program.
Britton has signed on to play Faye Resnick in the upcoming drama. If you are already familiar with the actual People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson trial, you may remember Resnick, a friend of Nicole Simpson Brown’s who sought treatment for a drug addiction just a few days before her friend and waiter Ronald Goldman were murdered. Resnick later went on to write a controversial book about Nicole Simpson Brown and even appeared in Real Housewives of Beverly Hills on Bravo, so Britton should have plenty of source material to draw from in the role.
Murphy made the Britton casting announcement in typical fashion, presenting the world with the news via Twitter.
As noted prior, she’s not the first high profile name to sign on to American Crime Story. Cuba Gooding Jr. is taking on the lead, playing O.J. Simpson in the new drama. Sarah Paulson is signed on to play prosecutor Marcia Clark. In addition, Courtney B. Vance will play Johnnie Cochran, David Schwimmer will play Robert Kardashian, Sr. and John Travolta has signed on to play Robert Shapiro. The latter characters provided aid to Simpson during his actual trial. If you are wondering why the castings of the lawyers are so prominent, the fall 2015 series will focus more on the legal end of the criminal process, giving audiences an eagle eye view of the court proceedings.
There’s a good chance Nashville will be renewed on ABC next year, and while we can’t confirm Britton's schedule for next TV season, we expect that actress’ schedule should allow her to appear in American Crime Story and ABC’s Nashville should it return. We’ll let you know if any other big names get cast in FX’s upcoming fall drama.
