Ryan Murphy’s new true crime series American Crime Story, the first season of which will detail The People Vs. O.J. Simpson, has landed another key player. The series has already cast Cuba Gooding Jr. as Simpson and Murphy’s American Horror Story mainstay Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark. Now David Schwimmer is reportedly circling the role of Simpson’s lead defense attorney, the late Robert Kardashian, whose fame has since been eclipsed by that of his reality-star offspring.
Schwimmer will forever be famous for his role as Ross Geller, although anyone under the age of 15 probably knows him better as Melman, the hypochondriac giraffe from the Madagascar movies. This will be Schwimmer’s first regular TV role in a decade—since the end of Friends, Schwimmer has made a few guest appearances on TV but has focused mainly on directing.
Tim Roth has reportedly also asked to play Kardashian, giving Murphy another option if Schwimmer changes his mind. Murphy apparently also wants Samuel L. Jackson to join the project as Johnnie Cochran, probably because he can’t cast Jessica Lange in the part. But given the size of Simpson’s legal team, half of Hollywood will be cast in this thing before long.