Annaleigh Ashford And Dennis Quaid To Put On 'Good Wife' Creators' 'Happy Face'

B Positive’s Annaleigh Ashford and Dennis Quaid, most recently seen on Paramount+’s acclaimed series Lawmen: Bass Reeves have been cast in lead roles in Happy Face, the latest series for the streamer from The Good Wife franchise and Evil creators Robert and Michelle King.

Originally ordered in November 2021, the series is inspired by the podcast by the same name from iHeartMedia and Melissa Moore, through her true story as chronicled in her autobiography Shattered Silence she wrote with M. Bridget Cook. As the story goes Moore was 15 when she uncovered that her father was a serial killer, the serial killer known as “Happy Face,” because he would draw smiley faces on evidence to brag about the horrors he committed. In adulthood she changed her name kept her secret as her father has been serving his life sentence in prison.

With Ashford playing Melissa and Quaid playing Happy Face, the logline reads “After decades of no contact, he finally finds a way to force himself back into his daughter’s life. In a race against the clock, Melissa must find out if an innocent man is going to be put to death for a crime her father committed. Throughout, she discovers the impact her father had on his victims’ families and must face a reckoning of her own identity.” Set to begin begin production on its eight-episode first season this spring in Vancouver, the series will premiere on Paramount+ as a global original in 2025. 

Tony winner Ashford reunites with the Kings having appeared in Evil and The Good Fight. Elsewhere in TV she earned an Emmy nomination for her role in the Hulu miniseries Welcome to Chippendales and appeared in Masters of Sex and Impeachment: American Crime Story. In film, she appeared in Late Night and Bad Education. Along with the acclaimed Paramount+ series under his belt, Quaid’s previous television roles include the short lived CBS series Vegas, Netflix’s Merry Happy Whatever, and Crackle’s The Art of More. His well-known film roles include the 1998 The Parent Trap remake, The Rookie, The Day After Tomorrow, Traffic, Frequency, The Right Stuff, and Strange World. 

Jennifer Cacicio is the writer, executive producer, and showrunner on Happy Face. The Kings executive produce under their King Size Productions banner alongside company executive Liz Glotzer, Moore herself, iHeartMedia’s Conal Byrne, Will Pearson, and Jordana Mollick. Michael Showalter will direct the first episode and executive produce as well. CBS Studios is the production studio thanks to their overall deal with the Kings.

Source: Variety (1, 2)