Annette Bening Joins ‘Katrina: American Crime Story’ as Embattled Louisiana Governor

Damian Holbrook February 6, 2017, 1:00 pm

Jemal Countess/Getty Images for IFP

Annette Bening attends IFP's 26th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards at Cipriani, Wall Street on November 28, 2016 in New York City.

American Crime Story won’t be back until 2018, but Ryan Murphy has already secured a force of nature for Season 2’s recounting of Hurricane Katrina.

Four-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening (snubbed for her turn in this year’s 20th Century Women) will join the cast of Katrina: American Crime Story as Kathleen Blanco, the governor of Louisiana who eventually took responsibility for the state’s myriad failures to respond to the 2005 crisis that devastated New Orleans.

Last month, FX president John Landgraf explained to the members of the Television Critics Association that the delay between ACS‘s lauded first edition, The People v. O.J. Simpson, and its Katrina follow-up was due to the drawbacks of filming on location. “…When you’re shooting in New Orleans, you have to worry about hurricanes,” Landgraf said. “You can only shoot there during certain times of the year.”

Aside from Bening and the already confirmed return of Emmy winner Sarah Paulson, the rest of the cast is TBD, but we fully expect to see a few familiar names from Murphy’s stable of powerhouse actors in the coming months.