‘Impeachment: American Crime Story’ Production Halted Due to COVID-19

Another major Hollywood project has been put on hold due to a positive coronavirus case. Impeachment: American Crime Story production was halted after routine screenings showed a positive case within Zone A, which includes cast members and crew who work with the actors, reports TMZ. It is not clear how many people tested positive, but sources told TMZ there were “multiple” cases. The show’s producers have not commented and FilmLA, which is monitoring Los Angeles film and television production, told TMZ they were not contacted about the positive tests.

Production on Impeachment was supposed to start in early spring but was delayed due to the lockdown in Los Angeles, reports Deadline. Sarah Paulson, who plays Linda Tripp, revealed filming finally began last month. The project is the third season in the Ryan Murphy-produced anthology series, following The People v. O.J. Simpson and The Assassination of Gianni Versace.

Impeachment is based on Jeffrey Toobin’s A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President and centers on President Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky. Beanie Feldstein plays Lewinsky and Clive Owen stars as Clinton. Annaleigh Ashford is playing Paula Jones, who sued Clinton for sexual harassment. Other members of the cast include Billy Eichner as journalist Matt Drudge, Margo Martindale as Licianne Goldberg, Anthony Green as Vice President Al Gore, and Betty Gilpin as Ann Coulter.

Several Hollywood projects have been put on hold in recent weeks due to coronavirus cases. Earlier this month, production on Showtime’s Shameless was put on hold after 18 tests came back positive, TMZ reported. However, sources told the site there was a lab mistake and none of the tests were positive. Production has since resumed, as the production shared on-set photos on Instagram Thursday.

Several shows, including Shameless, had to change up some of their plans for stories. Shameless is filming its final season, and showrunner John Wells recently told The Hollywood Reporter some changes had to be made. “On the practical side, we weren’t going to be able to, under the COVID work protocols, do some of the larger scenes that we wanted to do — particularly storylines with Liam [Christian Isaiah], Debbie [Emma Kenney] and her daughter, Franny, which were going to have a lot of child extras,” Wells explained earlier this month. “We had to move more of the show back onto our existing sets [in L.A.] and we weren’t certain that we’d be able to shoot anything in Chicago.”