Netflix’s Hollywood Photos Previews First-Look at Ensemble Cast

Netflix has released the first photos from award-winning creator Ryan Murphy’s newest limited series Hollywood, providing us with our first-look at its ensemble cast’s characters consisting of Murphy’s frequent collaborators Darren Criss, Dylan McDermott, Holland Taylor and Jim Parsons. Described as Murphy’s love letter to the Golden Age of Tinseltown, the 7-episode series will be available for streaming on May 1. Check out the full photos in the gallery below!

“With the present so fraught and the future uncertain, we turned to the past for direction, uncovering buried history to spin an aspirational tale of what ifs,” executive producer Janet Mock said in a statement (via The Wrap). “What if a band of outsiders were given a chance to tell their own story? What if the person with greenlight power was a woman? The screenwriter a black man? What if the heroine was a woman of color? The matinee idol openly gay? And what if they were all invited into the room where the decisions are made, entering fully and unapologetically themselves to leave victorious and vaunted, their place in history cemented. ‘Hollywood’ is a love letter to our little industry town where dreamers dwell, stars are born, and magic transcends reality.”

Hollywood will follow the story of a group of aspiring actors and filmmakers in post-World War II Hollywood as they try to make it in Tinseltown — no matter the cost. Each character offers a unique glimpse behind the gilded curtain of Hollywood’s Golden Age, spotlighting the unfair systems and biases across race, gender and sexuality that continue to this day. The 7-episode series exposes and examines decades-old power dynamics, and what the entertainment landscape might look like if they had been dismantled.

The miniseries will star Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor Darren Criss (American Crime Story) as Raymond, Samara Weaving (Ready or Not, Guns Akimbo) as Claire, Laura Harrier (BlacKkKlansman) as Camille, David Corenswet (The Politician) as Jack, Two-time Grammy winner Patti LuPone as Avis, Holland Taylor (The Practice) as Ellen Kincaid, Jeremy Pope (Ain’t Too Proud) as Archie, Dylan McDermott (American Horror Story) as Ernie, Emmy winner Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) as Henry Wilson, Jake Picking (Top Gun: Maverick) as Rock Hudson and Joe Mantello (Wicked) as Dick.

Hollywood is co-created and executive produced by longtime collaborators Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan (Glee, Scream Queens). Alexis Martin Woodall, Darren Criss, and Janet Mock will also be executive producing with Mock serving as a writer and director.

The series is the newest addition to Ryan Murphy’s long-list of ongoing projects that he is currently developing and producing for Netflix as part of his massive multi-year deal with the streaming service. These projects include Ratched, a prequel to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest starring Sarah Paulson (American Horror Story) as a younger version of the cruel Nurse Ratched; and the film adaptation of hit Broadway musical The Prom featuring a star-studded cast led by Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman; and five different projects that was recently announced.