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  3. See the Impeachment: American Crime Story cast and their real-life counterparts

See the Impeachment: American Crime Story cast and their real-life counterparts

From Beanie Feldstein's Monica Lewinsky to Colbie Smulders' Ann Coulter.

Nick Romano
By Nick Romano January 23, 2020 at 08:04 PM EST
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Beanie Feldstein as Monica Lewinsky

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 21: Actor Beanie Feldstein attends the 24th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 21, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) UNITED STATES - JUNE 03: Monica Lewinsky leaving the office of attorney Plato Cacheris. (Photo by Harry Hamburg/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images; Harry Hamburg/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images

Even after the Donald Trump presidency, impeachment is still on the brain, thanks in part to Impeachment: American Crime Story.

After The People v. O.J. Simpson and The Assassination of Gianni Versace, the FX anthology series returns to tackle the Monica Lewinsky-Bill Clinton sex scandal of 1998. Booksmart and Lady Bird standout Beanie Feldstein will play Lewinsky, who, in her early 20s as a White House intern, had a sexual relationship with then-President Clinton, spawning an investigation that led to his impeachment proceedings.

The real Lewinsky, who bore the brunt of jokes since the scandal broke, serves as an executive producer on Impeachment alongside Ryan Murphy, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, and Brad Falchuk.

"People have been co-opting and telling my part in this story for decades," she told Vanity Fair. "In fact, it wasn't until the past few years that I've been able to fully reclaim my narrative; almost 20 years later. But I'm so grateful for the growth we've made as a society that allows people like me who have been historically silenced to finally reintroduce my voice to the conversation."

[This gallery was originally published Jan. 23, 2020, and most recently updated Sep. 2, 2021.]

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Clive Owen as Bill Clinton

Clive Owen; Bill Clinton
Credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic; Bruce Glikas/Getty Images

Playing the man who "did not have sexual relations with that woman" is Clive Owen, last seen on the big screen in Gemini Man. If he says that famous line, we all win Crime Story bingo.

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Edie Falco as Hillary Clinton

Edie Falco, Hillary Clinton
Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images; Saul Loeb-Pool/Getty Images

The four-time Emmy winner, known for roles on The Sopranos and Nurse Jackie, will portray Hillary Clinton, the First Lady of the Clinton presidency and future secretary of state.

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Sarah Paulson as Linda Tripp

LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 18: Sarah Paulson attends the FYC red carpet for FX's "American Horror Story: Apocalypse" at NeueHouse Hollywood on May 18, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jean Baptiste Lacroix/Getty Images) Linda Tripp talks to the press outside the Federal Courthouse July 29, 1998 in Washington, DC. After finishing her testimony before Kenneth Starr's grand jury, Linda Tripp, whose tape recordings of Monica Lewinsky led to an investigation of an alleged presidential affair, spoke at length publicly for the first time, saying she was an average American. (photo by Dave Tracy)
Credit: Jean Baptiste Lacroix/Getty Images; Dave Tracy/Getty Images

Impeachment will focus primarily on the perspectives of three different women. That includes Feldstein's Lewinsky and Sarah Paulson as Linda Tripp, Lewinsky's confidante and her co-worker in the Defense Department who secretly recorded their phone conversations. Paulson starred in the first season of Crime Story as O.J. Simpson prosecutor Marcia Clark and won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for it. Will lightning strike again?

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Annaleigh Ashford as Paula Jones

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 10: Annaleigh Ashford attends the opening night of "Be More Chill" at Lyceum Theatre on March 10, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for "Be More Chill" ) UNITED STATES - APRIL 25: Paula Jones at the White House Correspondents Dinner. (Photo by Harry Hamburg/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
Credit: Cindy Ord/Getty Images; Harry Hamburg/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images

Annaleigh Ashford played the bff to Darren Criss' serial killer Andrew Cunanan in The Assassination of Gianni Versace. This time, she ascends to take the third part in the lead trio, Paula Jones, who sued Clinton for sexual harassment, a case that led to a broadening of the Clinton investigation into his financial dealings pre-presidency.

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Billy Eichner as Matt Drudge

Billy Eichner / Matt Drudge
Credit: George Pimentel/Getty Images; Virginia Sherwood /Walt Disney Television via Getty Images

The Drudge Report, founded by reporter Matt Drudge, was the first to break word of the Clinton scandal. On Jan. 17, 1998, it reported Newsweek had been sitting on a story about the affair. Billy Eichner, who featured on American Horror Story: Apocalypse, another Murphy series, will play Drudge in Impeachment.

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Cobie Smulders as Ann Coulter

Cobie Smulders, Ann Coulter
Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images; Theo Wargo/Getty Images

You love to hate her. End of sentence.

Ann Coulter, the always-controversial alt-conservative-leaning political pundit, wrote about the Clinton-Lewinsky situation in her 1998 book High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Case Against Bill Clinton. Betty Gilpin, the two-time Emmy nominee from Netflix's GLOW, was originally set to play Coulter but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts related to the pandemic. Cobie Smulders of Avengers and How I Met Your Mother fame takes over the role. 

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    1 of 7 Beanie Feldstein as Monica Lewinsky
    2 of 7 Clive Owen as Bill Clinton
    3 of 7 Edie Falco as Hillary Clinton
    4 of 7 Sarah Paulson as Linda Tripp
    5 of 7 Annaleigh Ashford as Paula Jones
    6 of 7 Billy Eichner as Matt Drudge
    7 of 7 Cobie Smulders as Ann Coulter

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