Sarah Paulson will play Gwen Shamblin, leader of a Christian sect and diet guru, in a new scripted series based on docuseries for HBO.

Sara Paulson she has taken on a couple of very important roles in the last few years where she has transformed herself to play real life characters that have been in the public eye. She portrayed Marcia Clark and Linda Tripp in several seasons of History of American Crimeearning both an Emmy win and a nomination, and has already agreed to play the self-help writer Glennon Doyle also in a future series. But in the meantime, she is taking on another recognizable role for HBO, in which she will play the late Christian cult leader and diet guru, Gwen Shamblin.

HBO has announced that it will adapt its documentary, The Way Down: God, Greed, and Gwen Shamblin’s Worship, about the cult-like figure who died last year, in a scripted series, after its September release made it the streamer’s most viewed docuseries at the time of release. Shortly before finishing the series, Shamblin and her husband died in a plane crash, and the team rotated and produced two more episodes, talking to more people about the controversial Remnant Fellowship Church and its founder.

Paulson will play Shamblin, who rose to fame with her Weigh Down Workshop, a Christian-based diet program, and founded Remnant Fellowship Church. She was a charismatic figure with a carefully curated image who was accused of emotional, psychological and physical abuse and exploitation for alleged church worship practices.

Michelle Deanwho most recently served as Hulu’s showrunner and executive producer The acthe will serve as showrunner and executive producer on the scripted series, which hails from Ross Dinerstein’s Campfire Studios and Chrissy Teigen’s Huntley Productions.

via: Deadline