Ben Platt to Star in New Netflix Series ‘The Politician’
Tony Award winner Ben Platt, best known for his starring role in Broadway’s Dear Evan Hanson, has now set his sights on the small screen as the lead actor in the new Netflix original series ‘The Politician’ which is set to air sometime in 2018.
After a weeklong bidding war, Netflix won the rights to the series from collaborators Brad Falchuk, Ian Brennan and Ryan Murphy. The trio have previously worked on ‘Glee’ and ‘Scream Queens’ together, while Falchuk and Murphy also collaborated on ‘American Horror Story’ and the new television series ‘9-1-1’.
Though information about ‘The Politician’ is being kept tightly under wraps, it is described as an hour-long comedy series focusing on a young and wealthy Santa Barbarian with political aspirations (Platt’s Payton). Platt will have several musical numbers in various episodes, though just how much of a musical series this will be remains to be seen.
Other big name stars have taken an interest. Gwyneth Paltrow and Barbra Steisand are in negotiations to join Platt on screen. If their contracts close, both stars will step behind the camera as producers and directors. We may even see a few musical numbers from the duo and Platt.
The show has already received a straight-to-series order for two seasons, though the length of each season is unknown.
