Academy Award-nominated actress Toni Collette has been cast in the title role in Showtime and DreamWorks Television’s new half-hour comedy pilot “The United States of Tara.” The announcement was made today by Robert Greenblatt, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc.
Based on an original idea from Steven Spielberg, “The United States of Tara” will revolve around an ordinary-seeming wife and mother of two teenage children (Collette), who also happens to suffer from dissociative identity (formerly multiple personality) disorder. The series will explore how a dysfunctional family, including Tara’s working class husband, copes with her various personalities which include an aggressive male biker, a promiscuous teenage girl and Martha Stewart-like homemaker.
“When you’re casting a show that requires an actress to not only play one complex character but in this case, several, the road begins and ends with Toni Collette,” said Greenblatt. “All of us at Showtime and DreamWorks are thrilled to have one of the best young actresses of her generation come aboard this project.”
Feature film writer Diablo Cody wrote the pilot and will serve as co-executive producer along with DreamWorks Television’s Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank as executive producers. “The United States of Tara” is Steven Spielberg’s first project for Showtime during the DreamWorks era as well as one of the few half-hour TV projects he’s set up during his career.
