‘Gaslit’ Stars Julia Roberts and Sean Penn Are Unrecognizable in First Look at Watergate Drama

On Wednesday, Starz released the trailer for Gaslit, a new drama series starring Julia Roberts and Sean Penn. The series is about the Watergate scandal, and it looks like an unflinching depiction of the ordeal. The stars are deep in character, making Roberts and Penn practically unrecognizable.

Penn plays U.S. Attorney General John Mitchell and Roberts plays his wife, Martha Mitchell in Gaslit. The two were pivotal players in breaking the Watergate scandal publicly, but they are often overlooked in historical examinations these days. The show will attempt to change that, depicting how Martha spoke out about former President Richard Nixon’s corruption and how she was defamed, kidnapped and assaulted for it.

The creator and showrunner of Gaslit, Robbie Pickering, told Entertainment Tonight: “Gaslit is the Watergate story you’ve never heard before. At the center of the show is Martha Mitchell, an unlikely whistleblower who is the first person to bust the whole scandal wide open and ultimately becomes the subject of a vicious White House smear campaign enacted in part by her own beloved husband, Attorney General John Mitchell.”

“We also feature John Dean, a hotshot administration lawyer dragged into the coverup and thrust into the spotlight with his acerbic, whip-smart wife, Mo,” Pickering went on. “The goal in making this project has always been to bring a real humanity to this subject, which yields a far richer and more relatable story than the standard male-driven political dramas about the period.”

“I can’t wait for viewers to experience the extraordinary performances in this remarkable ensemble, led by Julia Roberts, brought to life in this thrilling, stranger-than-fiction tale of marriage, love, betrayal, and ultimately, hope,” Pickering concluded.

Gaslit also stars Dan Stevens, Betty Gilpin, Shea Whigham, Darby Camp, Allison Tolman, Chris Messina, Hamish Linklater, Nat Faxon and Patton Oswalt, among others. It is adapted in part from the Slate podcast Slowburn, which told Martha Mitchell’s story at length. The story has also been told in a 1979 book called Martha by Winzola McLendon, and in a 2004 stage play by Thomas Doran called This is Martha Speaking.

Those depictions are available now for those interested in getting some background on this story. Otherwise, Gaslit premieres on Sunday, April 24 on Starz.