Donald Sutherland has been cast as J. Paul Getty in Trust – FX’s ten-episode limited series about the kidnapping of J. Paul Getty II.
Trust begins production in June for a January, 2018 premiere.
DONALD SUTHERLAND CAST AS J. PAUL GETTY IN FX’S TRUST
Emmy® and Golden Globe® Winner To Star As The Founder and Patriarch of The Getty Dynasty Who Negotiated For The Release of His Kidnapped Grandson J. Paul Getty III
10 Episode Limited Series From Academy Award® Winning Team of Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy, and Christian Colson Begins Production In June For Premiere on FX in January 2018
LOS ANGELES, April 12, 2017 – Emmy® and Golden Globe® winner Donald Sutherland will star as J. Paul Getty, the great oil man and founder of the Getty family dynasty, in FX’s Trust. Architect of the great family fortune, and of its misfortunes too, Getty was one of the twentieth century’s most iconic and enigmatic figures, and a man of endless contradictions – a billionaire who washed his own socks; a visionary who dreamed of a dynasty, but who was baffled by family.
The first installment, about the kidnapping of Getty’s grandson John Paul Getty III, begins production in June in London and Rome ahead of its premiere on FX in January 2018.
Equal parts family history, dynastic saga and examination of the corrosive power of money, Trust is a story that attempts to unlock the mystery at the heart of every family, rich or poor.
The 10 episode first installment of Trust tells the story of John Paul Getty III, heir to the Getty oil fortune. It is set in 1973, when the young Getty is kidnapped in Rome and his mafia captors are banking on a multi-million dollar ransom. After all, what rich family wouldn’t pay for the return of a loved one? Trust charts the young man’s nightmare ordeal at the hands of kidnappers who cannot understand why nobody seems to want their captive back. The Italian police think it’s a prank and decline to investigate. Paul’s father is lost in a heroin daze in London and refuses to answer the phone. Paul’s grandfather – possibly the richest man in the world – is marooned in a Tudor mansion in the English countryside surrounded by five mistresses and a pet lion. He’s busy. Only Paul’s mother is left to negotiate with increasingly desperate kidnappers. Problem is, she’s broke.
The limited series is being Executive Produced by Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy and Christian Colson. Written by Beaufoy and directed by Boyle, the first installment will be produced by FX Productions, Cloud Eight Films, Decibel Films and Snicket Films Limited.
Donald Sutherland is one of the most respected, prolific and versatile of motion picture actors, with an astonishing resume of well over one hundred and fifty films, including such classics as Robert Aldrich’s The Dirty Dozen; Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H; John Schlesinger’s The Day of the Locust; Robert Redford’s Ordinary People; Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1900; Philip Kaufman’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers; Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now with Julie Christie; Alan Pakula’s Klute with Jane Fonda; Federico Fellini’s Fellini’s Casanova and in Brian Hutton’s Kelly’s Heroes with Clint Eastwood, who later directed him in Space Cowboys. Additionally, he was Mr. Bennet in Joe Wright’s Pride & Prejudice. Sutherland recently completed filming The Leisure Seeker with Helen Mirren for director Paolo Virzi, and was ‘President Snow’ in all four enormously popular film adaptations of The Hunger Games series.
In television, Sutherland won both Emmy and Golden Globe awards as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the HBO film Citizen X, and he won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Clark Clifford, advisor to President Lyndon B. Johnson, in the HBO historical drama Path to War. He also starred in the AT&T Audience crime drama series Ice; alongside an international cast in Tandem’s action crime series, Crossing Line; and in the highly-successful long form adaptation of Ken Follett’s best-seller, The Pillars of the Earth. Sutherland co-starred in the ABC-TV series Dirty Sexy Money, the ABC drama series Commander-in-Chief, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Supporting Actor, and he was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Actor for his performance in Lifetime Television’s much-lauded miniseries, Human Trafficking.
Sutherland is represented by CAA and Jerry Longarzo at KlevanLongarzo LLP.