Chris Messina has joined Kaley Cuoco in the Peacock dark comedy thriller series “Based on a True Story,” Variety has learned.
Per the official series description, the show “is about a realtor, a plumber and a former tennis star whose lives unexpectedly collide, exposing America’s obsession with true crime, murder and the slow close toilet seat.” It was previously announced that Cuoco will play a married woman named Ava Bartlett, while Messina will play a character named Nathan. All other character details are under wraps.
Messina’s recent TV credits include the Starz Watergate drama “Gaslit” as well as Season 3 of the popular USA Network series “The Sinner” and HBO’s “Sharp Objects.” He is perhaps best known for his role on the comedy series “The Mindy Project,” in which he starred as Danny Castellano. On the feature side, Messina has been in films like “Argo,” “Away We Go,” “Devil,” “I Care A Lot,” and “Birds of Prey.”
He is repped by CAA, Entertainment 360, Gendler & Kelly, and The Lede Company.
Craig Rosenberg will serve as writer, executive producer, and showrunner on “Based on a True Story.” Jason Bateman and Michael Costigan will executive produce via Aggregate Films, with Roxie Rodriguez of Aggregate co-executive producing. UCP is the studio.
“Based on a True Story” was given a straight-to-series order in April. It is one of the latest additions to a growing roster of true crime projects at Peacock, which includes “Dr. Death,” as well as “Joe v. Carole,” and the recently launched “A Friend of the Family.”