Former Friends star Matthew Perry is getting into political mode, as he is about to play Ted Kennedy, opposite Katie Holmes as Jackie Kennedy, in the upcoming Reelz miniseries The Kennedys – After Camelot .
The miniseries will be the follow-up to the award-winning The Kennedys , which aired back in 2011. Perry will also act as an executive producer on the project.
According to Mashable , the four-part miniseries will be based on the Kennedy family biography After Camelot , by J. Randy Taraborrelli.
In The Kennedys – After Camelot , Matthew Perry will play Ted Kennedy in the years following the assassination of his brothers, Jack and Bobby. It will depict Ted Kennedy’s very complicated private and public life as he attempts to live up to the Kennedy family’s political ambitions and to also fill a male leadership void in the family itself.
Matthew Perry is playing Ted Kennedy in #TheKennedys sequel: https://t.co/HMx1JMXqjD pic.twitter.com/VAWoZvC0kZ
— Vulture (@vulture) March 15, 2016
As reported by Variety , Perry will be on screen alongside Katie Holmes , who will be reprising her role as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
Reportedly, Jackie kept strong ties with the Kennedy family throughout her life and her relationship with her brother-in-law, Ted, grew closer as they constantly reached out to one another for support.
According to Michael Prupas, executive producer of the miniseries and president of Muse Entertainment, “We are privileged to have an actor of Matthew Perry’s stature and ability take on the role of such a complex and controversial figure as Ted Kennedy.”
Prupas continued by saying that Matthew Perry and Katie Holmes “will fascinate audiences around the world as they bring these two famous Americans to life.”
Stan E. Hubbard, CEO of Reelz, said in a statement that as the Reelz brand evolves to tell the real stories of celebrities’ lives, “there’s no bigger celebrity family than the Kennedys and we’re proud to continue this amazing and dramatic story that began with The Kennedys miniseries.”
Hubbard added that the Kennedy family has inspired more movies, books, TV shows, and documentaries than any other American family.
Matthew Perry to play Ted Kennedy in new miniseries https://t.co/dgcf1mdmQB pic.twitter.com/jb8mZUJyIb
— Page Six (@PageSix) March 15, 2016
Reportedly, filming of The Kennedys – After Camelot is set to begin in Toronto, Canada, during May 2016 and the miniseries will debut on Reelz in spring of 2017.
As reported on the Inquisitr, Matthew Perry recently missed out on the NBC Friends reunion as he was in London, rehearsing for the play The End of Longing . He wasn’t a total no-show, however, as he did appear via a taped message. Perry will reportedly be returning stateside soon to begin production on the second season of CBS’ The Odd Couple.
Speaking of the Friends reunion, reportedly in an NBC clip that was not included in the two-hour reunion show, fellow Friends star Matt LeBlanc pointed out that as Perry wasn’t present, it didn’t count as a full reunion, saying, “Whoa, we’re not all together. There’s one missing. We wish he was here. Matty, we miss you.”
It seems it is difficult keeping the Friends stars down, as Matt LeBlanc has also been in the media recently as he starts filming as co-presenter of the popular BBC show Top Gear alongside host Chris Evans.
However, as mentioned in that article, LeBlanc caused quite some controversy due to an incident in the heart of London over the weekend, when he was filmed driving a car by the name of “Hoonigan” and doing some fancy stunts alongside racing driver Ken Block.
[Photo Matthew Perry by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images North America – Ted Kennedy by Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images]