Vanessa Redgrave To Play Lesbian Supreme Court Justice On USA's 'Political Animals'

EXCLUSIVE: USA Network’s upcoming political/family drama series Political Animals has tapped Vanessa Redgrave for a provocative guest stint. The Oscar-winning actress will play Diane Nash, a lesbian Supreme Court Justice, the first openly gay member of the Court who is friend and mentor to Elaine Barrish (Sigourney Weaver). Greg Berlanti and Laurence Mark’s six-episode series centers on divorced former First Lady and newly appointed Secretary of State Elaine Barrish who throws herself into the job after recovering from the dissolution of her marriage to ex-President Bud Hammond (Ciaran Hinds) and losing the presidential nomination. The character, who is certain to draw comparisons to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, tries to keep her family together, while simultaneously dealing with crises of the State Department and a hungry DC journalist (Carla Gugino) bent on destroying her career. In addition to Weaver, Redgrave joins fellow Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn on Political Animals for a tour de force acting trio that has 15 Academy Award nominations among them. The series, from Warner Horizon, is slated to debut July 15 and air in the Sunday 10 PM slot. This marks Redgrave’s first series gig since her arc on Nip/Tuck.

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