The cast of Death by Lightning is debating the destiny of the republic.
In a smoke-filled room in Chicago, the 20th President of the United States is about to be chosen. What happens next will shock the nation to its core. Death by Lightning is a new four-episode limited series that tells the story of President James Garfield (Michael Shannon) and his improbable rise and abrupt fall — from humble beginnings to the White House itself. It’s a journey that ends at the hands of a deluded assassin (Matthew Macfadyen).
Creator Mike Makowsky knew immediately when he picked up Candice Millard’s book Destiny of the Republic that it would make a compelling television series. “So much about the story felt so contemporary and vital to me,” he tells Tudum. “It was moving and tragic and poignant, but also kind of absurdly funny at times that I wasn’t really expecting.”
Death by Lightning is populated with dozens of colorful characters, from ambitious senators to famed inventors, all crossing paths in surprising ways. “You would think, ‘That’s ridiculous. That would never actually happen,’ ” Candice Millard tells Tudum.
But, in fact, it did. Read on to meet the politicians and assassins of Death by Lightning, only on Netflix on Nov. 6.
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Michael Shannon
as President James Garfield
About the Character
Garfield is the underdog congressman who becomes President of the United States — an honor that’s cut short after he becomes the target of an assassin’s bullet.
Makowsky knew Michael Shannon was the perfect choice to bring this undersung historical figure to life. “He’s one of the foremost talented actors of our generation, and he brings so much gravity,” he says. “But it was also important to us that whoever played Garfield wouldn’t just make him feel like a pure ‘lawful good,’ without the kind of psychological complexity that so many men of Garfield’s era imbued, purely as a result of having lived through the devastation of the Civil War.”
Shannon took the opportunity to learn from Death by Lightning. “It’s not every day someone asks you to play an actual US president, and I like learning on the job,” he tells Tudum. “When I was going to school, I didn’t find things like this so interesting, but when you’re acting out a historical story, you’re getting to experience it in so much detail and you’re actually trying to inhabit it and understand what it was like in a very sensory way. I wish, honestly, that’s how history was taught.”
Previously In
Shannon has been twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for his performances in Revolutionary Road and Nocturnal Animals. On television, he received an Emmy nomination for his performance as George Jones on George & Tammy. He’s also played a murder suspect in Rian Johnson’s original Knives Out, a Kryptonian war criminal in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, and a monstrous government official in Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water. Other film and television credits include 99 Homes, Take Shelter, Mud, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, and Boardwalk Empire.
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Matthew Macfadyen
as Charles Guiteau
About the Character
Guiteau is the political office-seeker who becomes obsessed with Garfield. Ultimately, he will go down in history as a presidential assassin.
Makowsky cast Macfadyen in part to help audiences empathize with Guiteau, even if they can’t quite sympathize. “Matthew Macfadyen is an immensely likable, good-hearted human being,” he says. “I think that this doesn’t work if all you feel for Guiteau the entire journey is just pure contempt and derision. It was interesting to me to try to understand why people do such destructive and self-destructive things.”
Macfadyen found Guiteau as confounding as the man’s contemporaries did. “He’s a fascinating and, in many ways, sad and strangely sympathetic character,” he tells Netflix, “and also deeply, deeply frustrating, in the things he does and the decisions he makes.”
Previously In
Macfadyen is perhaps best known for playing another risibly ambitious office seeker on Jesse Armstrong’s series Succession; his performance as ATN News head Tom Wambsgans won him two Primetime Emmy Awards. He also brought Mr. Darcy to life for a generation in Joe Wright’s 2005 adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, and hunted down Jack the Ripper as Detective Inspector Edmund Reid on the BBC’s Ripper Street. Other film and television roles include Death at a Funeral, The Three Musketeers, Deadpool & Wolverine, Anna Karenina, The Pillars of the Earth, and Howards End.
Larry Horricks, Mathew B Brady
Betty Gilpin
as First Lady Lucretia Garfield
About the Character
Lucretia, or “Crete,” is Garfield’s wife, and she’s as surprised as he is to be elevated to the White House.
Makowsky credits Gilpin with doing her research. “I don’t think anyone read more than Betty Gilpin,” he says. “There was an entire book that was published of all of James and Crete’s letters back and forth to one another. She read what she could of Crete’s diary … [She] came to set armed with a greater understanding of that character than I think I ever even could have hoped to have.”
Gilpin has nothing but positive things to say about her research — especially the book of letters. “It felt like reading the most beautiful text thread you’ve ever read,” she tells Netflix. “They’re both so smart and so in love with each other. It really felt like I had the teacher’s manual to this character because I had her real thoughts in real time.”
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Nick Offerman
as Vice President Chester Alan Arthur
About the Character
Arthur is a political rival of Garfield’s who becomes an unlikely ally as his Vice President. The pair clash over the continuing “spoils system” of government, in which political candidates give jobs to supporters — but things change when Garfield is shot.
Makowsky found Arthur’s journey in Millard’s book to be one of its most compelling historical detours. “He’s very much a crony of the New York political machine at the start of the story,” he says. “This is not a man who I think ever imagined that he would be president or vice president. And over the course of the series, I think we get to see Garfield really exercise an influence on him that I think disarms Chester Arthur and surprises him.”
Offerman had some historical background on the story of Garfield and his assassin, from a surprising source. “Did I have an awareness of Garfield’s story before this? Only thanks to the Stephen Sondheim musical Assassins,” he tells Netflix. “I built the set for a production of Assassins, so I knew that Garfield had been shot, and I knew some about Guiteau’s character.” No more set-building for Offerman; this time, he’s part of the story.
Previously In
Offerman won a Primetime Emmy for his tearjerking guest appearance on HBO’s The Last of Us. He also played gruff but lovable department director Ron Swanson on seven seasons of Parks & Recreation. This is his second time playing the President of the United States; he played a fictional president in Alex Garland’s Civil War. Other film and television roles include The Kings of Summer, The Lego Movie, Dumb Money, The Founder, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Childrens Hospital, and Devs.
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Bradley Whitford
as Senator James Blaine
About the Character
Blaine is a contender for the Republican presidential nomination — until he throws his formidable political weight behind Garfield, whom he’ll ultimately serve as Secretary of State.
Makowsky was delighted to cast the West Wing alum in another political role. “To have Josh Lyman back in the White House was incredibly meaningful for me as a big Wing nut,” he says. “He’s so funny. He’s so charismatic. He is so smart, so politically engaged. I had so much fun working with him.”
Whitford was attracted to the series when he learned about the tragic missed opportunity Garfield’s presidency represented. “I’m sort of a political geek,” he tells Netflix. “I was not familiar with [Garfield], and did not understand what a profoundly effective leader he could have been in the wake of the Civil War. So it was an easy call.”
Previously In
Whitford is no stranger to the halls of the White House; he was nominated for three Primetime Emmys (winning one) for playing Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman on Aaron Sorkin’s beloved Washington drama The West Wing. He’s since won two more Emmys, one for Transparent and one for The Handmaid’s Tale. Other film and television roles include Get Out, Billy Madison, The Post, Saving Mr. Banks, The Cabin in the Woods, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. He can currently be seen in Season 3 of The Diplomat.
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Shea Whigham
as Senator Roscoe Conkling
About the Character
Conkling is a leader of the Republican “Stalwarts,” champions of the spoils system who seek to elect former President Ulysses S. Grant to an unprecedented third term. He clashes with the principled Garfield immediately and often.
Casting Whigham as a notorious dandy was irresistible for Makowsky. “Shea is wonderful, because he is an incredible actor. He contains multitudes, but he’s also a tough guy,” he says. “The idea of putting him in a spit curl in a lavender waistcoat, but knowing that this man is still a prodigious fighter and very scary, formidable … everyone in Washington was terrified of Roscoe Conkling.”
Conkling’s naked ambition was a compelling way into the character for Whigham. “There’s three-fourths of all revenues running through New York at the time,” he tells Netflix. “Revenue equals power. So it’s interesting to watch someone try to hold on to that power. What will someone do?”
Previously In
Whigham played politician Eli Thompson on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and mountain man Jim Bridger on American Primeval. Other roles include Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning, Fast & Furious, The Lincoln Lawyer, Non-Stop, Silver Linings Playbook, Gaslit, Vice Principals, Narcos, and True Detective.
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Laura Marcus
as Mollie Garfield
About the Character
Mollie is Garfield and Lucretia’s kind and outspoken daughter.
Previously In
Marcus played Jinx on the BBC’s Bad Education, and Beela on Star Wars spinoff Andor. Other film and television roles include Tom Jones, The Serpent Queen, and The Jetty.
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Archie Fisher
as Joe Brown
About the Character
Brown is Garfield’s personal secretary, a devoted servant in charge of wrangling the White House’s horde of office-seekers.
Previously In
Fisher played Cal in Steve opposite Cillian Murphy. Other film and television roles include Last Days and Boarders.
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Paula Malcomson
as Franny Scoville
About the Character
Franny is Guiteau’s long-suffering sister, who he stays with briefly.
Previously In
Malcomson starred as Trixie on Deadwood and Abby Donovan on Ray Donovan. Other film and television roles include The Hunger Games, Tombstone, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Lost, Caprica, and Mayor of Kingstown.
Tuppence Middleton
as Kate Chase Sprague
About the Character
Kate is a Washington debutante and party hostess whose parties attract the wealthy and powerful in Washington, DC.
Previously In
Middleton played Riley Blue in the Wachowskis’ cult Netflix series Sense8. Other film and television roles include The Imitation Game, Jupiter Ascending, Mank, Possessor, Downton Abbey, Dickensian, and War & Peace.
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Dylan Hughes
as Jim Garfield Jr.
About the Character
Jim is Garfield and Lucretia’s son; he would later serve as Secretary of the Interior during President Theodore Roosevelt’s administration.
Previously In
Hughes has appeared in television series including Maternal, Ludwig, and Malory Towers.
Barry Shabaka Henley
as Senator Blanche Bruce
About the Character
Bruce is a Republican senator, and the first African-American to receive party votes for vice president at a major party’s nominating convention.
Previously In
Henley is a longtime Michael Mann collaborator who’s appeared in his films Collateral, Miami Vice and Ali. Other roles include How Stella Got Her Groove Back, The Terminal, Paterson, Rush Hour, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Bosch, and Bob Hearts Abishola.
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Željko Ivanek
as Dr. Bliss
About the Character
Dr. Bliss is the controversial doctor who treated Garfield on his deathbed.
Previously In
Ivanek won a Primetime Emmy Award for his performance as Ray Fiske on Damages. Other film and television roles include Seven Psychopaths, Black Hawk Down, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, The Manchurian Candidate, True Blood, The Event, and Big Love.
Kyle Soller
as Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln
About the Character
Lincoln is Abraham Lincoln’s only surviving son and the Secretary of War under Garfield’s administration.
Previously In
Soller played Imperial agent Syril Karn on Star Wars spinoff Andor. Other film and television roles include Anna Karenina, The Fifth Estate, Fury, Marrowbone, Bad Education, Poldark, and Bodies.
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Ben Miles
as George Scoville
About the Character
Scoville is Franny’s husband and Charles Guiteau’s brother-in-law.
Previously In
Miles played RAF officer Peter Townsend on The Crown. Other film and television roles include Napoleon, Tetris, The Catcher Was a Spy, V for Vendetta, Coupling, Andor, Lark Rise to Candleford, and Dracula.
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Vondie Curtis-Hall
as Frederick Douglass
About the Character
Douglass is the famed abolitionist who escaped slavery in 1838 and rose to national fame. He campaigned for Garfield in the 1880 presidential election.
Previously In
Curtis-Hall originated the role of Marty in the original Broadway production of Dreamgirls, and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for a guest role on ER. Other roles include Romeo + Juliet, Crooklyn, Mystery Train, Eve’s Bayou, Justified: City Primeval, Daredevil, The Recruit, Chicago Hope, and For the People. Curtis-Hall also wrote and directed Gridlock’d, starring Tupac Shakur.
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Shaun Parkes
as Dr. Charles Purvis
About the Character
Purvis is the doctor who attends Garfield upon his shooting, the first African-American doctor to treat a sitting president.
Previously In
Parkes was nominated for a British Academy Television Award for his performance in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe: Mangrove. Other roles include Human Traffic, The Mummy Returns, Things to Do Before You’re 30, Notes on a Scandal, Doctor Who, Casanova, and Moses Jones.
Alistair Petrie
as Secretary of the Treasury John Sherman
About the Character
Sherman is the Secretary of the Treasury who campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination at the 1880 convention — Garfield gives a speech nominating him.
Previously In
Petrie starred as Rebel Alliance General Draven in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and its television prequel Andor. Other film and television roles include Cloud Atlas, Victor Frankenstein, Hellboy (2019), The Bank Job, Utopia, Sherlock, The Terror, Sex Education, and Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?.
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Richard Rankin
as Alexander Graham Bell
About the Character
Bell is the inventor of the telephone, a scientist and engineer who joins the effort to save Garfield’s life.
Previously In
Rankin played Roger Wakefield MacKenzie in Outlander. Other roles include Burnt, Rebus, Burnistoun, Thirteen, From Darkness, The Syndicate, and Trust Me.
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