National Geographic Channel (@NatGeoChannel) today announced that up-and-coming actor WILL ROTHHAAR (@Poetiqrothhaar) has been cast as the volatile former Marine and assassin Lee Harvey Oswald in the upcoming two-hour original factual drama Killing Kennedy by Scott Free Productions. Rothhaar is the final of the four major players in the film to be announced, joining Rob Lowe (John F. Kennedy), Ginnifer Goodwin (Jacqueline Kennedy) and Michelle Trachtenberg (Marina Oswald).
The network also announced supporting cast members including
Mary Pat Gleason ("1600 Penn," "Desperate Housewives") as Lee Harvey Oswald's mother, Marguerite;
Francis Guinan ("Boss," "Mike & Molly") as
Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson;
Boris McGiver ("House of Cards," "Person of Interest") as suspicious FBI agent John Fain; and
Jack Noseworthy ("Event Horizon," "U-571") as the president's brother and trusted advisor
Robert F. Kennedy.
Killing Kennedy will premiere on the
National Geographic Channel later this year in the United States and globally in 171 countries and 38 languages, timed to the 50th anniversary of the assassination.
Based on the best-selling book by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard, Killing Kennedy begins in 1959, at major turning points for both the future president and his assassin. John F. Kennedy is in Washington, D.C., announcing his presidential candidacy, while Lee Harvey Oswald finds himself in the U.S. embassy in Moscow, renouncing his U.S. citizenship. These two events start both men - one a member of one of the United States' most wealthy and powerful families, the other a disillusioned former Marine and Marxist - on a cataclysmic track that would alter the course of history. Throughout we see their highs and lows, culminating in not one but two shocking deaths that stunned the nation.
Production on Killing Kennedy begins this week in Richmond, Va.
WILL ROTHHAAR - a charismatic and versatile actor - has made his mark in a variety of roles in film, television and theater. Rothhaar's most recent films include "Mission Park" and "Battle: Los Angeles" opposite
Aaron Eckhart and
Ramon Rodriguez. He can also be seen in "Print," "Radio Free Albemuth" (which included "Minority Report" producer Phillip K. Dick and costarr
Ed Shea Whingham and
Alanis Morissette), the short "Piano Fingers" with
Orson Bean (recurring character on "Desperate Housewives"), "16 to Life" and "King of California." He starred in movies such as "Kart Racer," "Heart in Atlantis" and "Love and Other Indoor Sports." Rothhaar also costarred in "
Jack Frost" with
Michael Keaton and
Kelly Preston, and "Kingpin" with
Woody Harrelson and
Bill Murray. Rothhaar's television credits include "Wild Blue," which is in preproduction. The Sony Pictures TV-produced pilot is directed by Michael Dinner. Will was a recurring character on ABC's "Last Resort," and had guest spots on "Perception," "Fringe," "Ghost Whisperer," "The Mentalist," "Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles," "Cold Case," "Without a Trace," "Criminal Minds," "CSI," "CSI: NY," "CSI: Miami," "Judging Amy," "ER" and more. He was also a series regular on the
CBS comedy "Listen Up," starring
Jason Alexander and
Malcolm-Jamal Warner.
Mary Pat Gleason is a staple in television, having appeared on hugely popular shows, such as "Friends," "Will and Grace," "Desperate Housewives," "Full House," "Murphy Brown," "Saved by the Bell," "Sex and the City" and "Suddenly Susan." The American film and television actress built up her career by taking on a wide range of roles that expanded her talents and experiences. In addition to her many accolades in film and TV, her credentials have also branched out to other realms. She won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1986, for writing "Guiding Light." She is also known for writing and performing "Stopping Traffic," a one-woman show that chronicles her real life and struggle with a bipolar disorder. Her array of film credits include roles in "Basic Instinct," "Traffic," "Bruce Almighty," "13 Going on 30," "The Island" and "A Cinderella Story." In 2008, she landed a role in the dramedy "Bottle Shock," which starred
Chris Pine,
Alan Rickman,
Bill Pullman and
Dennis Farina. Gleason was also seen in the romantic comedy "Because I Said So," starring
MAndy Moore and
Diane Keaton. She also voiced a character in "Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man."
A ubiquitous and recognizable film and TV character actor for decades,
Boris McGiver most recently has been seen in recurring roles on "House of Cards" (with
David Fincher,
Kevin Spacey and
Robin Wright) and "Person of Interest." Viewers will also remember him opposite
Tommy Lee Jones in
Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln," throughout the fourth season of David Simon's "The Wire," as well as from numerous guest spots on "Law and Order," among others. His guest-starring roles include "Blue Bloods," "Damages," "Unforgettable," "The Good Wife," "
John Adams," "Canterbury's Law," "Kidnapped," "Rescue Me," "Johnny Zero," "Queen's Supreme," "Third Watch," "NY Undercover" and more. McGiver's feature film credits also include "The Pink Panther" (with
Steve Martin),
Ang Lee's "Taking Woodstock," "Dark Matter" (with
Meryl Streep), "Fur" (with
Nicole Kidman)," Taxi," "Connie and Carla," "Ironweed" and more.
Jack Noseworthy received his BFA from The Boston Conservatory and has starred in films, on television and on Broadway. He made his Broadway debut in the original company of "
Jerome Robbins Broadway"; was the final actor to be cast in "A Chorus Line," at the time the longest-running show in Broadway history; and had the good fortune to play opposite
John Lithgow in the Broadway musical "Sweet Smell of Success." In the motion picture arena, he has worked with director Jonathan Mostow five times time in his career, on the films "The Surrogates," "Breakdown," "U-571," "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" and
FOX Network's extraterrestrial thriller "Them." Jack's other feature film credits include the independent favorites "Pretty Ugly People" and "Phat Girlz," as well as "Undercover Brother," "Poster Boy," "Unconditional Love," "Event Horizon," "The Brady Bunch Movie," "Barb Wire," "Trigger Effect," "Cecil B. DeMented," "Alive" and "Encino Man," his movie debut. On television, Noseworthy recently starred in the Hall
Mark Hall of Fame western "Aces 'N Eights," appeared opposite
Jonathan Rhys Meyers in the
CBS Emmy-winning miniseries "Elvis," played
Sissy Spacek's son in "A Place for Annie," and was
Anne Bancroft's fantasy obsession in "Mrs. Cage." He has also has the distinction of being the series lead on MTV's first scripted series, "Dead at 21."
Photo Courtesy of ABC
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