Gwyneth Paltrow is set to star in “The Apology,” a new A24 series coming to Netflix, according to multiple media reports. The streamer has already ordered two seasons of the upcoming project.
Thomas Vinterberg will direct the show. After a competitive negotiation, Netflix bought the project preemptively, Deadline reported.
This will be Paltrow’s first time leading a TV series. She will play Evelyn Amspoker, a woman whose son was murdered 18 years in a case that captivated the nation. Once Evelyn and her husband Caleb learn that the killer may get a reduced sentence, they decide to take matters into their own hands. The series comes from creator, showrunner and writer Joe Murtagh, known for “The Woman in the Wall.” Joe Hipps will executive produce the series from Cut To alongside Murtagh, Vinterberg and Paltrow.
This isn’t the first time the Oscar winner has collaborated with Netflix. The star appeared in two seasons of “The Politician” as well as “The Goop Lab,” an unscripted series tied to Paltrow’s lifestyle brand.
The series order was spearheaded by Jinny Howe, the head of U.S. and Canada scripted series for Netflix. It also comes in the wake of several major shakeups at the company. Last Wednesday, Netflix laid off roughly 1,000 employees, which translated to about 6% of the streamer’s staff. The product, tech, legal and human-resources teams were hit the hardest. Then on Friday, former Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria was booted from the company and replaced by former Disney and Fox executive Peter Rice. That was followed on Monday morning by the news that Dan Lin, Netflix’s former film chief, had been ousted from the company.
It’s also been quite some time since Netflix gave a two-season order to a new series. When the streamer first started making original series, it wasn’t unusual for Netflix to order multiple seasons at once. That’s an approach the streamer has moved away from in recent years.
