Cuba Gooding Jr. will play OJ Simpson in a TV miniseries

How the mighty have fallen, I suppose? Or not. Cuba Gooding Jr. – once a super bankable movie star – is following in the footsteps a lot of his fellow film actors and making the move to TV, where all the money seems to be (and quite a lot of great roles, too). What’s Cuba’s new role? Well, he’ll be playing OJ Simpson.

From US Weekly:

Casting closed! Ryan Murphy, the creator and producer behind American Horror Story and Glee, has cast Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr. as O.J. Simpson in his upcoming 10 episode miniseries American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson. Sarah Paulson has also been cast as prosecutor Marcia Clark.

American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson marks the first installment of Murphy’s upcoming FX anthology series that dramatizes true crime stories and chronicles the former football star’s infamous 1995 murder trial following the death of his wife Nicole Brown Simpson.

According to a press release, American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson “is a look at the O.J. Simpson trial told from the perspective of the lawyers that explores the chaotic behind-the-scenes dealings and maneuvering on both sides of the court, and how a combination of prosecution confidence, defense willingness, and the LAPD’s history with the city’s African-American community gave a jury what it needed: reasonable doubt.”

Ugh, wait, so this is a Ryan Murphy affair? Why, God, why? He’s THE WORST. I guess you can at least say his work is varied? I mean, you don’t get much more of a stark difference than Glee, American Horror Story and now OJ Simpson’s life.

I don’t particularly think that OJ Simpson deserves any more attention in this life, but I do think his story was a fascinating study in how fame and money can buy you a “get out of jail free” ticket, so to speak. Then again, he’s in prison now for robbery, so the law does eventually catch up with you (hopefully).