Kevin Costner to Play Bill Clinton in a United Nations Series
According to the CinemaDrame News Agency, Oscar winners Kevin Costner and Leonardo DiCaprio are producing a political series for the United Nations. Deadline reports that the series will focus on the organization’s mission in East Timor in 1999, and that Costner is in negotiations to portray former U.S. President Bill Clinton. Chukwudi Iwuji will also appear in the series as Kofi Annan.
David Raymond, who previously worked with the United Nations during Ban Ki-moon’s tenure, is writing and directing the series. It will narrate true stories about the “power of shared humanity” and the “courage and sacrifice” of UN staff members. Filming—planned to continue for more than one season—will begin in 2026 in the state of Atlanta and in Spain.
East Timor remained a Portuguese colony until 1975, and in 1999 its people revolted following a referendum coordinated by the United Nations. The country briefly gained independence until Indonesia, with the support of President Gerald Ford, invaded it. In the decades that followed, its people suffered military repression and famine, but Indonesia’s political weakening in the late 1990s allowed East Timor to become an independent nation in May 2002. Clinton played a role in reducing tensions between East Timor and Indonesia.
Costner has previously portrayed the historical figures Eliot Ness in The Untouchables, Wyatt Earp in the film of the same name, and Jim Garrison in JFK. He wrote, directed, and starred in the documentary Horizon: An American Saga, and in recent years has appeared in the series Yellowstone. Honeymoon with Harry, co-starring Jake Gyllenhaal, is one of Costner’s upcoming projects.
