Russell Crowe to play former Fox News chief Roger Ailes in new series

Oscar-winning Australian actor Russell Crowe will star as Fox News founder Roger Ailes in a new TV series for US network Showtime.

The show, which is based on journalist Gabriel Sherman's 2014 book The Loudest Voice in the Room, will explore the Fox News chief's later career, from his role as a Republican influencer to his departure from the network amid allegations of sexual harassment in 2016. Ailes died in 2017, aged 77. 

This is the first time Crowe will play a major part in a US television series, although many will remember his role in Australian soap opera Neighbours three decades ago.

He is likely to have to gain weight for the role as an ageing Ailes, as the series is set to focus on the final decade of his working life.

President of Showtime Networks, David Nevins, said in a statement: "In many ways, the collision between the media and politics has come to define the world we live in today.

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 “We’ve seen this phenomenon depicted on screen as far back as the story of Charles Foster Kane, and it finds contemporary embodiment in the rise and fall of Roger Ailes. With Russell Crowe in the lead role, this limited series promises to be a defining story for this era.” 

The series will consist of eight episodes, the first of which has been reported to have been written by both Sherman and Tom McCarthy, writer of the Oscar-winning Spotlight. Jason Blum (Get Out, Whiplash) will produce the series for Showtime and Blumhouse pictures.