Catherine Zeta-Jones will star in the dark comedy Queen America, the first major series produced by Facebook. The 10 half-hour episode series will debut on its relatively new video platform Watch.
It revolves around Vicki Ellis (Zeta-Jones), the most renowned and ruthless pageant coach in the state, and the hapless Samantha Stone, who hopes Vicki can mold her into worthwhile contender for the title of Miss America.
The 48-year-old, who took home a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2003 for Chicago, confirmed her jump to the small screen in a Facebook post: “So excited about my next project,” she wrote. “I think you’re going to love it.” Queen America marks the first time Zeta-Jones is appearing in a TV series in the US.
The series is created, written, and executive produced by Meaghan Oppenheimer. It marks the first straight-to-series order for wiip, the new independent studio launched and led by veteran television executive Paul Lee. Made Up Stories will serve as wiip’s co-studio partner.
Facebook launched the Watch tab as a platform for TV shows back in 2017, with Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs) headlining one of its first originals. In September, Facebook debuted Strangers. Then in late April, it launched Skam Austin, an adaptation of a Norwegian program. Earlier this year, it added a dramedy starring Elizabeth Olsen to its list of original shows.
Zeta-Jones most recently starred in the Lifetime movie Cocaine Godmother: The Griselda Blanco Story. She has appeared as Olivia de Havilland in the first season of the Ryan Murphy anthology series Feud. She is also known for her roles in films like Traffic, Entrapment, Intolerable Cruelty, and The Mask of Zorro.
> Mar MartÃnez
