Dennis Quaid is joining the Ryan Murphy family. Entertainment Weekly has confirmed that the actor has joined the latest installment in the American Crime Story about Hurricane Katrina, where he’ll be portraying former President George W. Bush.
Bush was the president when Katrina hit land in 2005 and he was criticized for the slow response in sending federal aid to Louisiana and New Orleans.
Quaid joins a cast that consists of Matthew Broderick, Annette Bening and Sarah Paulson, a frequent actress in Murphy’s shows. Broderick will be playing Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael D. Brown, who was in charge of heading any type of response to the hurricane and was seemingly unqualified for the job. Bening will portray Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco.
This isn’t the first time that Quaid has played a former president in a role. He portrayed Bill Clinton in HBO’s 2010 TV movie The Special Relationship. Some of his other work in television includes a part on Comedy Central’s Drunk History, Workaholics and Inside Amy Schumer. He also had a role in Pivot’s Fortitude, where he played Michael Lennox.
Besides casting, there’s not much known about the upcoming installment in the anthology series, which is set to be the follow up to the wildly successful The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, which wrapped up its run over a year ago.
Katrina: American Crime Story is expected to air sometime in 2018. The third installment in the anthology series, which focuses on the murder of Gianni Versace, is also expected to air later in 2018. The show will air on FX.