Donald Sutherland to play J. Paul Getty in Danny Boyle’s Trust series

By Sam Barsanti | April 12, 2017 | 11:56pm

Aux Features TV

According to a press release, Donald Sutherland has joined Danny Boyle’s FX series Trust as J. Paul Getty, one of American history’s most iconic wealthy jerks. The show will be an anthology series that covers 50 years of history across five seasons, with the first one focusing on the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III—J. Paul Getty’s grandson—in the ‘70s. Long before their name was associated with properly licensed photographs, the Gettys had made a ton of money off of oil, and the mafia goons who kidnapped John Paul Getty III figured it would be an easy payday if they held him for ransom.

Unfortunately, as we previously noted, the young man’s grandfather was a jerk, and he refused to pay for his grandson’s safe return. In fact, according to the aforementioned press release, he was “marooned in a Tudor mansion in the English countryside surrounded by five mistresses and a pet lion” when his grandson was taken, so he clearly had better things to do.