In our own age of extreme division and distrust, Beletsky believes this story of an effort to violently unseat the president, and attack members of his war cabinet on the same night, still resonates because it speaks to “the shattering of norms in how we deal with disputes—and just our sense of safety.”
“I think the show has a lot about it that’s very relevant,” she says. “This was a domestic attack that was so unusual. Lincoln used to have the door to the White House unlocked for the duration of the war. So murder of this kind was just not done.”
Although Lincoln’s death is the starting point for the series, the 16th US president still features prominently throughout its episodes, mostly in flashback, as a means of underscoring the stakes, the motivations of the pursuers, and the depth of the loss.
Tobias Menzies, best known for Game of Thrones and Outlander as well as for playing middle-aged Prince Philip on The Crown, stars as Stanton, a leader who had a tendency to micromanage rather than delegate, taking on the full weight of problems that may have benefited from being shared. Beletsky says Menzies delivered that gravity. “He brings a high level of intelligence to a role,” she says. “[Stanton] was one of the top trial lawyers in the country, and Tobias does it so convincingly that you believe this man has been in the Supreme Court, that he has been sitting with Lincoln.”
Lincoln himself is portrayed by Hamish Linklater, best known for The Newsroom and Legion and playing the mysteriously charismatic priest from Midnight Mass. “There are only so many actors who are as bright as Hamish and as tall as Hamish,” Beletsky says. “It takes a very brave actor to take on a role like this where everyone thinks they know who this person is. And Hamish was just so open and curious and just everything you want in an actor. I will say his performance is one of the things I’m most proud of.”
