Two-time Oscar winner Sean Penn is set to make his first appearance on television in years. He will star as President Andrew Jackson in an HBO miniseries produced by Lionsgate TV.
The series will be based on Jon Meacham’s biography American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House. Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard, the duo behind Netflix’s Narcos, are writing, reports TheWrap.
American Lion will run six episodes and will cover Jackson’s entire life... or as much as they can fit in the series. Jackson was first nominated by the Democratic Party for President in 1824, but lost to John Quincy Adams even though he earned the most electoral votes. Jackson eventually won the 1828 election and served two terms.
Jackson is a controversial figure today, due to his policies to move Native Americans from the east to the west. However, he is still featured on the $20 bill, although many hoped that the Treasury would finally change that. Instead, the Treasury decided to change the $10 bill, which features Alexander Hamilton.
Penn, who won Oscars for Milk and Mystic River, has not been seen on TV since he did an episode of Two and a Half Men in 2004. He also appeared on Friends in 2001.
Penn was last seen on the big screen in The Gunman and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
HBO has a long history with shows and TV movies based on presidents. The 2008 series John Adams with Paul Giamatti scored four Golden Globes and 13 Emmys.