NBCUniversal announced Monday that John Slattery will play Leo F. Drummond, the story’s main antagonist in John Grisham’s original novel and its 1997 film adaptation, in the upcoming USA Network drama “The Rainmaker.”
A press release describes the character as “one of Grisham’s most iconic figures… a legendary lion of the courtroom and senior partner at Tinley Britt, the powerful law firm Rudy Baylor is up against.”
It has not yet been announced who will play the lead role of Baylor, who will be portrayed by Matt Damon in the film version. The series’ logline states that “fresh out of law school” Baylor takes on Drummond “as well as his law school girlfriend. Rudy, along with his boss and her scruffy paralegal, uncover two interconnected conspiracies surrounding the mysterious death of their client’s son.”
Slattery received four Emmy nominations for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Roger Sterling in Mad Men. His other TV credits include Veep, Sex and the City, The Good Fight and Mrs. America – and even the more offbeat comedies 30 Rock, Arrested Development, Documentary Now and Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp.
While working on “Mad Men,” Slattery also served as an episode director. He also directed episodes on Judd Apatow’s “Love” and the feature films “God’s Pocket” and his latest film, “Maggie Moore(s),” which premiered at Tribeca last year despite criticism from the Writers and Actors Guild and starred his “Mad Men” co-stars Jon Hamm and Tina Fey.
He has also appeared in films such as “Spotlight,” for which he won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he has appeared in “Ant-Man” and “Iron Man 2,” as well as films such as “Station Agent,” “Flags of Our Fathers,” and “Traffic.”
This Lionsgate and Blumhouse adaptation of The Rainmaker is directed by Michael Seitzman (“Code Black,” “Intelligence”), with Jason Richman, John Grisham, David Gernert and Jason Blum also serving as executive producers. Richman also co-wrote the pilot with Seitzman. Lionsgate and Blumhouse recently agreed to a multi-picture deal that will see Blumhouse reimagining previous Lionsgate horror films.
