‘Dirty John’ Casts Amanda Peet & Christian Slater — Find Out Season 2’s Title & Plot
The anthology series Dirty John is getting a new cast, story, and network for its second season.
Amanda Peet and Christian Slater will star in Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story as Betty Broderick and her ex-husband, Dan, USA Network announced Monday.
Season 1 on Bravo, featuring Connie Britton and Eric Bana as Debra Newell and John Meehan, was based on the articles and true crime podcast from Los Angeles Times reporter Christopher Goffard and told the cautionary tale of how their whirlwind romance spiraled into a web of deception, denial, and mental terror that nearly ripped apart a family.
Season 2 will also be based on an “epic true tale of love gone wrong,” a story from the 1960s to the ’80s of the “breakdown of a marriage that Oprah deemed one of ‘America’s messiest divorces’ even before it ended in double homicide.”
Betty is “the perfect Southern California blonde wife and mother” who “charms everyone she meets” and Dan is the “handsome college boyfriend” she married, the Season 2 description reveals. She supports him through medical and law school through “years of sacrifice and suffering,” but after he becomes “a superstar” in the legal community, he hires Linda, “a bright, beautiful young woman without baggage with whom he can happily forget the struggles of his past.”
“Betty’s attempts to fight back and enraged refusals to accept reality only serve to isolate and destabilize her until she loses her very identity,” the synopsis teases. “And Dan’s cold confidence blinds him to the bear he has created, and won’t stop poking … until it’s too late.”
Connie Britton and Eric Bana, Dirty John Season 1 (Frank Ockenfels/Bravo)
“The first season of Dirty John was a story of twisted love and coercive control — and both these insidious elements are also present in and integral to the story of Betty Broderick, whom I have wanted to write about since I became a writer,” creator Alexandra Cunningham said in a statement. “I can’t wait to see Amanda and Christian bring it to life.”
Cunningham wrote and executive produces Season 2. She will also make her directorial debut this season. Jessica Rhoades, Britton, Atlas Entertainment, and Los Angeles Times Studios also executive produce. Co-executive producer Maggie Kiley will direct four episodes, including the premiere, and finale. Kat Candler, Meera Menon, and Shannon Kohli will also direct.
Season 2 is currently in production in Los Angeles on the Universal Studios lot.
Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story, Season 2, Coming Soon, USA Network
