Paramount+’s long-running crime series happy face goes into production with Emmy-nominated and Tony-winning actress Annaleigh Ashford (Welcome to Chippendales, Impeachment: American Crime Story) set as lead. Michael Showalter (The Dropout, Tammy Faye’s Eyes) was approached by executive producers Jennifer Cacicio – who also serves as showrunner – and Robert and Michelle King to direct the first episode of the CBS Studios-produced series. Production on the eight-episode first season is expected to begin later this year and premiere on Paramount+ in 2025.
happy face reunites Ashford with the Kings with a guest role on their other two Paramount+/CBS Studios original series, the current hit Devilish the recently packaged one The good fight.
Produced by CBS Studios happy face is inspired by the true story of Melissa Moore; The happy face Podcast by iHeartPodcasts and Moore; and the autobiography Broken Silencewritten by Moore with M. Bridget Cook.
At the age of 15, Moore discovered that her beloved father was the prolific serial killer known as “Happy Face.” As an adult, the first Dr. oz The employee changed her name and kept her secret while her father served a life sentence.
Ashford will play the lead role of Melissa. In the TV adaptation, Melissa’s father deviates from Moore’s true story and contacts her to claim the honor of another victim, drawing her into an extraordinary investigation into her father and his crimes. When she discovers the influence her father had on the families of his victims, she must come to terms with her own identity.
Cacicio, Robert and Michelle King, Liz Glotzer, Melissa Moore, Conal Byrne, Will Pearson, Showalter and Jordana Mollick are executive producers. happy face is produced by CBS Studios in association with King Size Productions, iHeartPodcasts and Semi-Formal Productions. Developed by Paramount+ predecessor CBS All Access in 2020 and ordered to series in 2021, the series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.
Ashford recently wrapped production on Searchlight Pictures’ upcoming horror thriller Substance, starring Sarah Paulson. She was nominated for an Emmy for her performance alongside Kumail Nanjiani in the Hulu limited series Welcome to Chippendales. Ashford previously played Paula Jones Indictment: American Crime Story and starred in the CBS sitcom B Positive.
On stage, Ashford won Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for the Broadway revival of You can’t take it with you. She currently plays the role of Mrs. Lovett opposite Josh Groban in Stephen Sondheim’s Tony-nominated revival Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, For this, she received a Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Musical and a Grammy nomination for joining the Broadway cast. She is repped by CAA, Beth Rosner Management and Schreck Rose Dapello.
Source: Deadline
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