Jessica Chastain Limited Series ‘The Savant’ Ordered at Apple TV+
Jessica Chastain is a savant of acting, and now she’s getting a whole limited series to prove it. The “Eyes of Tammy Faye” Oscar winner and current star of “A Doll’s House” on Broadway will star in “The Savant,” a new limited series ordered by Apple TV+.
No other cast members outside of Chastain have been announced, and Apple TV+ states the storyline and character details are being kept under wraps. However, the show is inspired by a feature published in Cosmopolitan, with the original writer Andrea Stanley serving as a consultant.
Apple did not specify what article from Stanley the show is based on, but judging from the title, it’s almost certainly “They Call Her The Savant,” a 2019 profile of an anonymous woman who infiltrates online hate groups in order to track and prevent potential mass shootings.
The eight-episode miniseries will be written and showrun by Melissa James Gibson, an Emmy nominee for producing “House of Cards” in 2017; she also wrote for the series and “The Americans,” and created and wrote last year’s Netflix limited series “Anatomy of a Scandal” with David E. Kelley. Matthew Heineman, an Oscar nominee and Emmy winner for his 2015 documentary “Cartel Land,” will direct the series.
“The Savant” will be Chastain’s third major television credit, after starring in “Scenes From a Marriage” with Oscar Isaac in 2021 and “George & Tammy” with Michael Shannon last year. Currently, the film star is leading an acclaimed Broadway revival of Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” directed by Jamie Lloyd, which opened earlier this month and will run through June 10.
Aside from starring, Chastain executive produces “The Savant” with Kelly Carmichael through her production banner Freckle Films; Gibson and Heineman also executive produce. Cosmopolitan editor-in-chief Jessica Giles executive produces, and Brian Madden, senior vice president of development at the outlet’s publisher Hearst Magazines, produces. Anonymous Content and Fifth Season serve as the studios for the project.
Chastain is represented by CAA, Mosaic, and imPRint. Gibson is represented by CAA and Manage-ment. Heineman is represented by CAA, Cinetic Media and Sloss Eckhouse Dasti Haynes. Hearst Magazines is represented by WME.