Ryan Murphy has worked his casting magic again.
Annette Bening has been tapped to star in “Katrina: American Crime Story,” the next installment of the award-winning limited series from executive producers Murphy, Nina Jacobson, and Brad Simpson.
Bening will play Kathleen Blanco, the governor of Louisiana during and after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. She did not seek re-election, and was succeeded by Bobby Jindal.
No other cast members have been officially confirmed, though Murphy has said Emmy-winner — and frequent collaborator — Sarah Paulson will be returning to the series.
“You will have the famous people and also the people who weren’t famous,” Simpson said about what other characters to expect.
FX Networks CEO John Landgraf announced last month at the Television Critics Assn. press tour that “Katrina” will air in 2018. It will be quickly followed by the third installment of the “American Crime Story” franchise, which will explore the 1997 murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace. An undated future season will follow the story of Monica Lewinsky, based on Jeffrey Toobin’s book, “A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President.”
Bening was recently nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her role in John Mills’ “20th Century Women.”
The first installment of “American Crime Story,” which covered the O.J. Simpson trial, won nine Emmys and two Golden Globes. It was also named an AFI television program of the year.
“American Crime Story” is produced by Fox 21 Television Studios and FX Productions.
Bening is repped by CAA and Mark Gochman.
