Robert De Niro headlining his first TV series is a big enough deal, but Zero Day, a conspiracy thriller coming to Netflix, is upping the ante with a number of big names that are set to join De Niro as part of the cast.
Netflix has announced that Joan Allen (The Bourne Ultimatum, Room), Connie Britton (The White Lotus, Dear Edward), Lizzy Caplan (Fatal Attraction, Fleishman Is in Trouble) and Jesse Plemons (Love & Death, The Power of the Dog) have all signed on for key roles in Zero Day.
The official Zero Day synopsis from Netflix is filled with more intrigue than specific details:
"Zero Day asks the question on everyone's mind: How do we find truth in a world in crisis, one seemingly being torn apart by forces outside our control? And in an era rife with conspiracy theory and subterfuge, how much of those forces are products of our own doing, perhaps even of our own imagining?"
The character descriptions give us a few more clues as to what is going on with the limited series. First, De Niro plays George Mullen, a beloved former president who comes out of retirement to lead a commission tasked with investigating a potential world crisis.
Allen and Caplan are playing members of the Mullen family. Allen is Sheila Mullen, the former first lady who put her professional ambitions on the back burner for her husband's political career but is now a nominee to the federal bench. Caplan plays their daughter, Alexandra Mullen, a young congresswoman hoping to distance herself from her father's political legacy.
Plemons is playing Roger Carlson, President Mullen's former "body man," returning to the national stage with his old boss. Connie Britton, meanwhile, stars as Valerie Whitesell, an intelligent political operative who served as Mullen’s former chief of staff.
It's a pretty solid lineup behind the camera as well. Zero Day was created by Eric Newman (The Watcher, Narcos, Narcos: Mexico), Noah Oppenheim (Jackie, The Thing About Pam, The Maze Runner) and Michael S. Schmidt, who is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. Lesli Linka Glatter (Homeland) is directing the six-episode limited series.
There is no official release date for Zero Day, with Netflix just saying that it is "coming soon." Whenever it does arrive, it will be exclusive to the streaming service, meaning you’ll need a Netflix subscription to watch.
