Video: Annaleigh Ashford Stars in HAPPY FACE Teaser Trailer

Paramount+ has revealed the teaser trailer and premiere date for its highly anticipated original drama series Happy Face starring Tony Award-winning actress Annaleigh Ashford. The eight-episode season will premiere on Thursday, March 20 with two episodes, exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and international markets where the service is available. Following the premiere, new episodes will drop weekly on Thursdays, with the season finale on May 1.

Ashford recently starred in Searchlight Pictures’ horror thriller, Dust, starring opposite Sarah Paulson and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. On stage, Ashford was seen on Broadway opposite Josh Groban in the revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. 

The cast of Happy Face also includes two-time Golden Globe-nominated actor Dennis Quaid and series regulars James Wolk, Tamera Tomakili, Khiyla Aynne and Benjamin Mackey. Ashford recently starred in Searchlight Pictures’ horror thriller, Dust, starring opposite Sarah Paulson and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. On stage, Ashford was seen on Broadway opposite Josh Groban in the revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. 

Happy Face is inspired by the true-life story of Melissa G. Moore; the critically acclaimed Happy Face podcast from iHeartPodcasts and Moore; and the autobiography Shattered Silence, written by Moore with M. Bridget Cook. At 15, Moore discovered that her beloved father was the prolific serial killer known as Happy Face. As an adult, she has changed her name and guarded her secret while her father has been serving life in prison.

Jumping off from Moore’s true-life story, the Paramount+ Original Series follows Melissa (Ashford) and her incarcerated father, known as the Happy Face Killer (Quaid). After decades of no contact, he finally finds a way to force himself back into his daughter’s life. In a race against the clock, Melissa must find out if an innocent man is going to be put to death for a crime her father committed. Throughout, she discovers the impact her father had on his victims’ families and must face a reckoning of her own identity.

Happy Face is produced by CBS Studios in association with King Size Productions, iHeartPodcasts and Semi-Formal Productions. Jennifer Cacicio (Your Honor, Shooter) serves as showrunner for the series and executive producer alongside Robert and Michelle King, Liz Glotzer, Melissa G. Moore, Conal Byrne, Will Pearson, Michael Showalter and Jordana Mollick. Michael Showalter (The Dropout, The Eyes of Tammy Faye) also directed the first episode. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

Photo credit: Katie Yu/Paramount+