The Sopranos star Edie Falco will play Hillary Clinton in the upcoming anthology series Impeachment: American Crime Story. The third season of the FX series, the show will focus on the infamous Bill Clinton scandal involving Monica Lewinsky in the 1990s. It is based on Jeffrey Toobin's book A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President.

Falco, a 3-time Emmy winner, joins the project after months of negotiations. In 2019, FX chief John Landgraf claimed Hillary wouldn't be "one of the main characters" in the story, but Falco's casting suggests she'll have a bigger role than initially thought. Falco joins an ensemble cast for Impeachment that also includes Sarah Paulson as Linda Tripp, Beanie Feldstein as Monica Lewinsky, Clive Owen as Bill Clinton, and Annaleigh Ashford as Paula Jones. Betty Gilpin and Billy Eichner co-star as Ann Coulter and Matt Drudge, respectively.

Sarah Burgess is writing Impeachment: American Crime Story and will serve as an executive producer alongside series creator Ryan Murphy, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Brad Falchuk, Larry Karaszewski, Scott Alexander, Alexis Martin Woodall, Hannah Fidell, Sarah Paulson, and Beanie Feldstein. The real Monica Lewinsky is serving as a producer alongside Henrietta Conrad and Jemima Khan. Neither of the Clintons are personally involved with the project.

Falco found great fame with her starring role as Carmela Soprano in the HBO series The Sopranos, a role that earned her six Emmy nominations and three wins. She also starred as Nurse Jackie Payton in the acclaimed Showtime series Nurse Jackie between 2009 and 2015, earning another six Emmy nominations and a win for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy. Fans of the HBO prison drama Oz will also recall Falco playing Diane Whittlesey in the show's earlier seasons. She is also attached to the upcoming Avatar sequels from James Cameron.

The first season of American Crime Story, dubbed The People v. O.J. Simpson, starred Cuba Gooding Jr. as the famous NFL star infamously acquitted of double-homicide charges in the 1990s. Airing in 2016, the series was a hit, spawning plans to develop additional seasons about different true crime stories. In 2018, the second season, The Assassination of Gianni Versace, explores the murder of designer Gianni Versace by spree killer Andrew Cunanan. Before settling on Impeachment, the initial plan for season 3 was to focus on Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

While Falco will play Hillary Clinton in a TV series, the real Hillary is also, oddly enough, delving into crime fiction. It was recently reported that the former presidential hopeful had written her first novel. A thriller called State of Terror, the book explores a world of "high stakes diplomacy and treachery" with a government that's "dangerously out of touch" amid a series of terrorist attacks. The book will be released on Oct. 12, 2021.

Originally, Impeachment was scheduled to air ahead of the 2020 presidential election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Scheduling conflicts forced a delay, and a new debut date for the series hasn't yet been set. This news comes to us from The Hollywood Reporter.