Oscar-winning actor Anne Hathaway is the latest Hollywood star to try her hand at television, signing on to star in the forthcoming mini-series The Ambassador’s Wife.
Produced by the Mark Gordon Company, The Ambassador’s Wife is an adaptation of Jennifer Steil’s novel of the same name. Based on Steil’s experiences as the wife of the British ambassador to Yemen, it tells the story of the kidnapping of an American woman in a fictional Middle Eastern country, and her struggle to be reunited with her husband. The series is likely to be sold to TV and digital outlets in the near future.
“The Ambassador’s Wife is an incredible story that pulls you in immediately and resonates with all of us based on the images and news headlines that are pervasive in our lives today,” said Mark Gordon in a statement. “We are so fortunate to have Anne starring in this timely, gripping and compassionate drama. She is in a league all her own and we cannot think of anyone who can better portray Steil’s complex heroine.”
While Hathaway began her career in TV with the late-90s family drama Get Real, which also starred a young Jesse Eisenberg, she has rarely appeared on the small screen since, bar a handful of guest appearances on The Simpsons, Saturday Night Live and Family Guy.
However, the lure of the limited or mini-series, which lacks the open-ended commitment required by traditional series, has proved powerful to Hollywood stars in recent years. True Detective, with its single-season storylines, pulled in Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson in its first season, and Vince Vaughn, Colin Farrell and Rachel McAdams in its second. Meanwhile Maggie Gyllenhaal starred in the 2014 BBC and Sundance series The Honourable Woman.
Hathaway appears next on the big screen alongside Robert De Niro in The Intern, and has also signed up to star in forthcoming monster movie Colossal, which is being described as a cross between Lost in Translation and Godzilla.
