Former FBI Director James B. Comey will be portrayed by a famous face on CBS in the near future: actor Jeff Daniels.
The Emmy Award winner has agreed to bring Mr. Comey’s recent autobiography, “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership,” to television in a four-hour miniseries.
The project was adapted by screenwriter Billy Ray who penned high-profile projects such as “Captain Phillips” and “Shattered Glass.”
“Jeff is so perfect for this part. Great actor, instant integrity, loads of warmth, intelligence, complexity and gravitas,” Mr. Ray said in a statement released by the network on Monday. “We talked backstage after I saw him in ’To Kill a Mockingbird’ on Broadway, and I knew I was looking at the only person who could play Jim Comey. Lucky for me, he said yes.”
Mr. Daniels, like Mr. Comey, is a staunch critic of President Trump.
“Who are the heroes going to be?” Mr. Daniels asked an MSNBC panel in May regarding leaks in the Trump administration. “Is it going to be the Daniel Ellsberg ’Pentagon Papers’ guy? Whose the guy the Justice Department is going to go, ’Here, Washington Post. Here’s the unredacted. Go. I’m waiting for that guy. I need people to stand up and be heroic. Who are you? Because democracy is at stake.”
Some of Mr. Daniels’ awards include a Best Lead Actor Emmy for “The Newsroom” and Best Supporting Actor for “Godless.”
Announcement! Multiple #Emmy Award-winner @JeffDaniels will star as former FBI Director James Comey in a new four-hour #CBSTVStudios event miniseries based on Comey’s @NYTimes #1 bestselling book, ’A Higher Loyalty.’ pic.twitter.com/EpVdl9Yd0o
— CBS TV Studios (@CBSTVStudios) October 7, 2019
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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