‘Monsters’ star joins HBO’s new true-crime series ‘The Trial of Louise Woodward’
Chloë Sevigny is set to star in a true-crime limited series on HBO as Elaine Whitfield Sharp, Louise’s defense attorney. The actress has joined the cast of ‘The Trial of Louise Woodward,’ a five-part limited series that dramatizes the eponymous criminal case that shocked America and Britain in 1997, according to Deadline. It follows an 18-year-old British au pair who was accused of shaking an eight-month-old child, Matthew Eappen, to death in the American household where she was working as a nanny. This crime and the subsequent trial unfolded in the United Kingdom and the United States, where it became a media sensation.
The series will star Catriona Chandler as Louise Woodward, with Joanne Froggatt as her mother, Susan. Meghann Fahy and Sagar Radia will play Deborah and Sunil Eappen, Matthew’s parents. Matthew Barry wrote the series and serves as a showrunner. He is also one of the executive producers, together with Susanne Bier, who directed all episodes. Other executive producers are Frank Spotnitz, Emily Feller, Tobi de Graaff and Antoine Douaihy. The series is produced by Big Light Productions and Anton TV.
Sevigny is returning to the true-crime genre after her critically acclaimed role last year in Netflix’s monster documentary, ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,’ for which she was nominated for an Emmy. She currently stars in ‘The Five-Star Weekend,’ a Peacock series that recently became the streaming service’s biggest-ever scripted series launch. She has also starred in the HBO series ‘Big Love’ and is an Oscar nominee for her role in ‘Boys Don’t Cry.’
It has yet to be announced when ‘The Trial of Louise Woodward’ will air, but it is scheduled to debut sometime in 2027. Susanne Bier, the director, will also oversee the series’ post-production, which is unusual for a limited series. It suggests the series has a consistent look throughout its five episodes. The real-life story involved a jury that convicted the defendant in the second degree, but the trial judge lowered the verdict to involuntary manslaughter, ordering her to be released after serving her sentence. The reduction became one of the most controversial decisions and continues to provoke discussions for years after the verdict. Elaine Whitfield Sharp was one of the defense attorneys for the accused, along with the famous trial lawyer Barry Scheck, representing the defendant during the initial trial in 1997.
