Hulu has announced that Jason Clarke would appear in a new limited series on Alex Murdaugh, a notorious South Carolina lawyer convicted of murdering his wife and children. The show will examine the startling criminal case that revealed the dark secrets of a strong Southern legal dynasty.
Clarke, who also appeared in Oppenheimer and HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, will play Alex Murdaugh. Patricia Arquette has also been cast as Maggie Murdaugh, the family matriarch.
The series is based on Mandy Matney’s popular Murdaugh Murders Podcast, which looked into the prominent attorney’s demise. Murdaugh, who was once a respected figure in Hampton County, was condemned in 2023 to two consecutive life sentences without parole for the murders of his wife Maggie and their son Paul in 2021.
The show will explore Murdaugh’s transformation from a fourth-generation lawyer to a convicted murderer. Producers intend to provide a detailed look at the case, including its implications for other investigations. One such example is the death of Stephen Smith, a former classmate of Alex’s surviving son, Buster. Smith’s death was categorized as a homicide due to new evidence discovered during the Murdaugh investigation. Buster Murdaugh has denied any participation in Smith’s death, but the subject remains a source of public concern.
Nick Antosca and Alex Hedlund of Eat the Cat will serve as executive producers alongside the podcast’s founder, Mandy Matney. UCP, a company of Universal Studios Group, is developing the series.
Clarke’s ability to play deep, complex characters will likely provide dimension to his portrayal of Alex Murdaugh. Given this case’s national attention, the series hopes to provide a closer look into the family’s unraveling and the events that startled the country.
