Tobias Menzies will star in a new miniseries about the aftermath of President Abraham Lincoln's assassination. The actor, best known for playing Prince Philip in the last two seasons of The Crown and both Blackjack and Frank Randall in early seasons of Outlander, will play Edward Stanton in the Apple TV+ series, which is titled Manhunt.
Stanton was Lincoln's war secretary and close friend. Following the president's death, per a summary cited by Deadline, Stanton was driven almost mad by his obsession with catching assassin John Wilkes Booth, and his determination to preserve and protect Lincoln's legacy. The project is described as part historical fiction, part conspiracy thriller, and will be directed by Carl Franklin (Mindhunter).
Deadline also reports that the series will feature a number of Black historical figures who were involved both with the manhunt and with Booth's escape. These figures include Mary Simms, a former slave who gave Booth safe harbor while he was on the run.
Casting for other roles, including Booth, Simms, and Lincoln, is yet to be announced.
Booth, an actor and Confederate sympathizer, assassinated President Lincoln on the evening of April 14, 1865, just five days after the end of the Civil War. The subsequent manhunt for Booth was one of the largest in history, with some 10,000 federal troops and detectives assigned to search for him. He was finally apprehended in Virginia twelve days after the killing, and killed during a standoff with sergeants.
Emma Dibdin is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles who writes about culture, mental health, and true crime. She loves owls, hates cilantro, and can find the queer subtext in literally anything.
