Today is Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. If he were still alive, he would be 215. My how times fly. In what might seem like a strange way to honor him, Apple TV+ is releasing a short “making of” video of the streaming service’s upcoming show, Manhunt. The seven-part limited true crime series is not only about the hunt for Lincoln’s killer, John Wilkes Booth, but also the struggle to keep the ideals that were Lincoln’s Reconstruction plans. As the poster for the series states, “The assassination was just the beginning.”
Based on The New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-winning non-fiction book from author James L. Swanson, Manhunt delves deep into one our country’s best-known crimes in history, but one that many know little about.
On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln and his wife Mary Todd Lincoln attended Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C. for a performance of Our American Cousin. He had just signed the paperwork creating the Secret Service. At about 10:15 p.m., he was shot in the head by actor and Confederate sympathizer, John Wilkes Booth. The new series chronicles how Booth was eventually captured for the crime.
“There was a twelve-day manhunt,” says Anthony Boyle who plays Booth. “At the time, it was the biggest in American history.”
An established actor, John Wilkes Booth was once considered by some as “the handsomest man in America” predating People Magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” by a couple hundred years. In the preview for Manhunt, he is shown threatening “I’m gonna be the most famous man in the whole world.” And for a time, he probably was.
“The Lincoln assassination affected the entire country’s future,” says show creator, writer and producer Monica Beletsky in the behind-the-scenes short, Inside the Manhunt. “The story of the assassination is a cat-and-mouse thriller that is epic in scale.”
The video also features series stars Tobias Menzies, Anthony Boyle, Will Harrison, Lovie Simone, Patton Oswalt and Hamish Linklater who (briefly) discuss the inspiration for the show and how this TV adaptation came to be.
“It was clearly one of the more pivotal moments in history,” say Menzies who plays Edwin Stanton in the series. He and his wife were invited to join Lincoln and his wife at the play, but refused the offer. “Stanton runs the investigation to find Booth. Someone, somewhere, knows where he is.”
Manhunt also stars Matt Walsh as co-conspirator Dr. Samuel Mudd, Will Harrison as Mudd’s assistant, David Herold and Lovie Simone as Mary Simms, a former slave of Mr. Mudd.
“Mary was essential in testifying against Booth because she saw the big question mark that everybody was trying to figure out,” says Simone.
Rounding out the cast is Patton Oswalt as Lafayette Baker (who was a spy at the time) and Damian O’Hare who plays Army officer Thomas Eckert.
Manhunt debuts with two episodes on March 15 followed by weekly additions each Friday through April 19.
Main Image: Lili Taylor and Hamish Linklater (Apple TV+)
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