Donald Sutherland is in the money. FX said today that the Emmy winner is set to play billionaire oil man J. Paul Getty in the first installment of its anthology series Trust, executive produced by the Slumdog Millionaire trio Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy and Christian Colson.
Written by Beaufoy and directed by Boyle, Season 1 takes place in 1973, when the young heir John Paul Getty III is kidnapped in Rome and his mafia captors are banking on a multimillion-dollar ransom from his wealthy family. Sutherland plays the architect of the family fortune — one of the 20th century’s most iconic and enigmatic figures and at the time perhaps the richest man in the world. He’s a visionary who dreamed of a dynasty but was baffled by family.
Sutherland’s long acting career ranges from features The Dirty Dozen, MASH and Kelly’s Heroes to Animal House, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Ordinary People to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Hunger Games. An Emmy winner for the 1995 telefilm Citizen X, his more recent TV credits include regular roles in Commander in Chief Dirty Sexy Money and along with miniseries The Pillars of the Earth. He currently appears on the Audience drama Ice.
Production on the 10-episode Trust begins in June in London for a January 2018 premiere. The first installment will be produced by FX Productions, Cloud Eight Films, Decibel Films and Snicket Films Limited.