Rodham, a fictional novel by Curtis Sittenfeld, is set to be adapted by Sarah Treem (The Affair, In Treatment) into a Hulu series, per The Hollywood Reporter. The novel delves into the possibility of an alternative United States if Hillary Clinton had never married Bill Clinton.
Sittenfeld’s Rodham builds a story that surrounds a Bill-less Hillary who has unmitigated ambition and advocates for feminism in the political sphere. Her character develops from a young idealist to an experienced cynic. The project is still in the development stage and has not been given a formal series order as it has still yet to have a finished script. If the project is eventually moved to series, then it will be Hulu’s second TV series about Hillary.
The first series, Hillary, is a four part docuseries directed by Nanette Burstein (On the Ropes, American Teen) that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25th, 2020. It is “a remarkably intimate portrait of a public woman” and “interweaves revealing moments from never-before-seen 2016 campaign footage with biographical chapters of her life” (Hulu). The series features interviews from Hillary herself and offers her own perspective on the 2016 election and the events that led up to it.
Before her overall deal with Disney, Treem worked as an executive producer on Showtime’s drama, The Affair (created by Hagai Levi and Sarah Treem), which ran from 2014 to 2019. When the show wrapped up, actress Ruth Wilson (Luther, Saving Mr. Banks), who left the show after season 4, alleged that the production had a toxic work environment, which Treem denied.
Treem will both write and executive produce Rodham under Fox 21 Television Studios. This is the first project to come from Treem’s overall deal she made in November with Disney, which backs Hulu. Warren Littlefield (Fargo, The Handmaid’s Tale) will serve as executive producer along with Treem. Sittenfeld will also be credited as an executive producer.