Toni Collette, better known for movies like Little Miss Sunshine and Hereditary, has joined the cast of The Staircase, an HBO Max limited series. The Oscar-nominated actress is set to play Kathleen Peterson and will star opposite Colin Firth, who will be playing her husband, Michael Peterson.
Collette gained critical acclamation for her role in Unbelievable (2019) and received a Critics’ Choice Television Award and nominations for a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award for her portrayal of Det. Grace Rasmussen.
The Staircase will comprise eight episodes and it will follow the real-life story of Michael Peterson, an American novelist, who was convicted of murdering his wife in 2003. The series will explore the couple’s lives and the events that led up to Kathleen Peterson’s death in 2001.
Harrison Ford was previously attached to the role of Michael Peterson, but recent reports confirm Colin Firth’s involvement in the project. Writers Antonio Campos and Maggie Cohn, who will also serve as executive producers and showrunners, have expressed their enthusiasm about working on the project.
The limited series will be adapted from a docuseries by the same name. The original true-crime documentary series, The Staircase, began with eight episodes in 2005 before being updated in 2013 and 2018, follows the investigation as it proceeded from Peterson’s arrest to a verdict at the trial.
Michael claimed Kathleen’s death was caused due to her falling down the stairs at their home. However, the medical examiner determined that she had been beaten with a weapon. This led to Peterson becoming a suspect in a murder investigation.
He served his sentence until 2011, after which he was placed under house arrest. A retrial for Peterson took place in 2016, where Peterson entered an Alford Plea for manslaughter. He was sentenced to prison, but having already served more time than that, he was allowed to walk free.
Peterson currently lives in Durham, North Carolina, and has also made appearances on Dr. Phil, claiming his innocence. In 2019, he published a book titled Behind the Staircase, in which he talks about his marriage, the night of his wife’s death, life in prison, and about being free but still being guilty in the eyes of the people who know him.
The Staircase offers a rare and revealing inside look at a high-profile murder trial and an examination of contemporary American justice.
About The Staircase
The Staircase is an upcoming dramatic limited series adaptation of a docuseries of the same name, to be co-produced by Annapurna Television and HBO Max, as announced in March 2021. The eight-episode series will focus on the case of Peterson who was accused of murdering his wife, Kathleen, in 2001.
The series is set to star Colin Firth as Michael Peterson and Toni Collette as his wife, Kathleen Peterson, with Antonio Campos and Maggie Cohn both attached as writers and showrunners.
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