If she can handle aliens, she can handle politics. Sigourney Weaver has just taken her first TV series role, and she’ll be playing a former First Lady and current Secretary of State on USA networks’ Political Animals This might be the best casting I’ve seen in a long time, and puts this series in a whole new light in my opinion.
Deadline reports that Weaver has been tapped for the lead role in Political Animals as Elaine Barrish, matriarch of an important political family. She’s recently divorced from the former President, has lost her bid for the Presidential nomination herself and is dedicating herself to her position as Secretary of State. Meanwhile, her family is struggling – she has a son who is an addict and another (already cast Jimmy Wolk) aiming for his father’s former job, and her ex-husband is still in love with her. Add to that a journalist who is out to get her and all the rest of the political world she lives in, and it makes for one complex life. And Sigourney Weaver is, if you ask me, perfect for the role.
This is the first starring series role Weaver has ever taken on. She has done one episode of Eli Stone and did a voice for Futurama, but for the most part her career has been in features. It’s exciting to see her making the move into a starring series role, and the role itself couldn’t be a better fit. It’s hard to think Sigourney without thinking serious alien butt-kicking, and I’m fairly certain politics requires the same skill set.
