Lewis Black has been cast in ABC’s upcoming miniseries about the Bernie Madoff scandal as a hedge fund manager who convinced several people to invest with the eventually disgraced stockbroker. Black will portray Ezra Merkin—also known as “The Rabbi”—who enticed numerous clients, including playwright Elie Wiesel, into giving Madoff their money.
The miniseries, based on Brian Ross’ The Madoff Chronicles, will star Richard Dreyfuss as the infamous investor, with Blythe Danner and Frank Whaley in co-starring roles. Madoff famously swindled billions of dollars from his clients, and was convicted in 2009 of what was both the largest case of financial fraud in U.S. history, as well as the best day ever for the guy who wrote the Wikipedia page for Ponzi schemes.
It’s rare to see Black—best known as the guy The Daily Show brings on to stress test its microphones—taking on a dramatic role. Besides the obligatory comedian-plays-a-creep role on a 2004 episode of Law & Order: SVU, he’s mostly stuck to comedic work. His most recent role is in Pixar’s upcoming Inside Out, in which he plays Anger, a decision that must have taken casting directors literally dozens of nanoseconds to approve.