Connie Britton (Nashville, American Horror Story) and Sam Nivola (The White Lotus, White Noise) have been cast as the leads of the new series Phony, from Nick Haley (Marcel the Shell with Shoes On) and Anthony King (Beetlejuice the Musical, Gutenberg! The Musical!).
Phony is a coming-of-age mystery about a teenager who wakes up in the hospital after a car accident to discover his mom — his only parent and his best friend — appears to have been replaced by an impostor.
Britton will play Ellen, a single mom to Sonny and the principal of his high school.
Nivola will play Sonny, the most beloved student at his high school, but the only person who really knows him is his mom.
Paley wrote, directed, and edited the first episode and executive produced the half-hour series with co-showrunner Anthony King, Connie Britton, Charlie Alderman (Charlie’s Production Company), and Drew Goddard and Sarah Esberg (Goddard Textiles). The series is produced by 20th Television.
Britton is a five-time Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated actress with TV credits that include ABC’s Spin City, Fox’s 24, and NBC’s The West Wing, Nashville, FX’s American Horror Story, and NBC’s Friday Night Lights, created by Peter Berg. Most recently, she played Nicole Mossbacher in the first season of HBO’s The White Lotus and Netflix’s Zero Day, and Benito Skinner’s Overcompensating. Britton is repped by CAA, Untitled Entertainment, Hansen, Jacobson, Teller.
Nivola most recently starred in season three of Mike White’s Emmy-nominated series THE WHITE LOTUS, alongside Parker Posey and Jason Isaacs. He next stars on the big screen in DRIVER’S ED alongside Molly Shannon and Kumail Nanjiani, which is set to premiere at the Toronto International Film festival next month.
Nivola’s breakout role was in Noah Baumbach’s White Noise, starring alongside Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig. His additional credits include Susanne Bier’s limited series for Netflix The Perfect Couple; Bradley Cooper’s Oscar-nominated film Maestro; William Oldroyd’s thriller Eileen alongside Thomasin McKenzie and Anne Hathaway; and Emily Mortimer’s The Pursuit of Love alongside Lily James. Nivola is repped by UTA.
Paley is a writer and director who co-wrote the Oscar-nominated feature Marcel The Shell with Shoes On and directed an episode of Broad City. His short films have played Sundance and screened worldwide. As an editor and producer, Nick has received two Primetime Emmy nominations for Inside Amy Schumer, Season 2, and Hack Into Broad City. He is repped by Entertainment 360, Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz.
King is a Tony and Emmy-nominated writer, producer and performer. He co-wrote Beetlejuice the Musical, for Broadway (Tony Nominee – Best Book of a Musical) and also Gutenberg! The Musical! (Tony Nominee – Best Revival of a Musical). He was the co-creator and executive producer of Robbie and has written/produced for shows like The Afterparty, Silicon Valley, Dead to Me, Search Party, Broad City, the upcoming second season of Jury Duty, and more. King Rep is repped by WME, Mosaic, Ziffren Brittenham
