National Geographic brings us The Hot Zone, a limited miniseries that is inspired by a true story about the origins of Ebola with The Good Wife‘s Julianna Margulies and Game of Thrones‘ Liam Cunningham starring.
The Hot Zone begins with a terrifying look back to 1980, when an unsuspecting doctor in Kenya examines a patient with symptoms unlike anything seen before. Flashing forward to 1989, a colony of primates has become sick at a research facility near Reston, just 20 miles from the U.S. Capitol, and sample tissues are sent to Nancy Jaax (Margulies), a lieutenant colonel with USAMRIID, the U.S. Army’s main facility for defensive research into countermeasures against biological warfare. Jaax’s instincts and experience tell her she’s seeing something far worse than a run-of-the-mill primate infection. Despite the skepticism of her colleagues Dr. Peter Jahrling (Grace) and Col. Vernon Tucker (Wisdom), but with the support of her husband, Lt. Col. Jerry Jaax (Emmerich), a U.S. Army veterinarian, and her mentor Dr. Wade Carter (Cunningham), she pushes forward to find the truth.
Through Nancy’s perseverance, scientific testing reveals the dire truth of the situation, forcing the Army into action to contain an outbreak. The series also flashes back to the late 1970s to see how Dr. Carter and Travis Rhodes (D’Arcy) first tracked, studied and attempted to contain Ebola in Africa. But will the lessons they learned help stop this disease from hitting the human population? A dramatic, high-stakes scientific thriller with a courageous and determined heroine at its core, The Hot Zone brings true science and human drama together for a gripping tale that still resonates today.
Joining Margulies in the cast are Noah Emmerich (The Americans) as Jaax’s husband, Lt. Col. Jerry Jaax, who doesn’t hesitate to risk his life during the operation to contain the Ebola virus; Topher Grace (BlackKKKlansman) as Dr. Peter Jahrling, a virologist for the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, who butts heads with Nancy Jaax over the best way to contain the virus; Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones) as Dr. Wade Carter, Nancy’s vital ally in the race to prevent the virus from spreading; James D’Arcy (Homeland) as Travis Rhodes, a Center for Disease Control official and Carter’s former assistant and current nemesis; and Paul James (The Path) as Ben Gellis, a lab tech at the pathology lab in Reston, Virginia, assisting Nancy and Dr. Jahrling.
Rounding out the cast are Robert Wisdom (The Wire) as Col. Vernon Tucker of USAMRIID, Jaax’s superior; Robert Sean Leonard (House), who plays Walter Humboldt, the liaison between Hazleton, a scientific research corporation, and its primate lab in Reston; and Grace Gummer (Mr. Robot) as Melinda Rhodes, one of the first people to chase the virus into the jungle.
The miniseries stars Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife) as Lieutenant Colonel Nancy Jaax, Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones) as Wade Carter, Noah Emmerich (The Americans) as Jerry Jaax, Topher Grace (That 70’s Show) as Dr. Peter Jahrling, James D’Arcy (Homeland) as Trevor Rhodes, Paul James (The Path) as Ben Gellis, Robert Sean Leonard (House) as Walter Humbolt, and Grace Gummer (Mr. Robot) as Melinda Rhodes. The limited series is produced by Fox 21 Television Studios, Lynda Obst Productions, Scott Free Productions, Kelly Soulders, Brian Peterson and Jeff Vintar.
The Hot Zone premieres May 27th on National Geographic at 9/8c as a three night limited series with a total of six episodes.
