Trivia / Impeachment

• Approval of God:
  • Linda Tripp died a year before the show aired, but her daughter Allison told Sarah Paulson personally that she probably would have liked her portrayal.
  • Monica Lewinsky picked Beanie Feldstein to play her after being impressed with her work in Booksmart and due to sharing a similar background of being L.A. Jewish women.
• Creator Backlash: While Sarah Paulson was otherwise satisfied with her role, she admitted regret over having to wear a fat suit to portray Linda Tripp instead of a plus-sized actress being cast (even though Paulson also gained 30 pounds), saying she didn't think enough about the implications when she accepted the role.
• Creator-Chosen Casting: Monica Lewinsky chose Beanie Feldstein to portray her after enjoying her performance in Booksmart.
• The Danza:
  • George Conway is played by George Salazar.
  • George Stephanopoulos is played by George H. Xanthis.
• Disowned Adaptation: Paula Jones was furious about her portrayal, despite it being fairly sympathetic, saying she came off as an annoying idiot. For her part, Annaleigh Ashford said she completely understood the sentiment.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Sarah Paulson gained 30 pounds to play the famously plus-size Linda Tripp, though it still wasn’t considered quite enough and she also uses prosthetics.
• Fake American:
  • British actor Clive Owen plays Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States.
  • British actor Anthony Green plays Al Gore, the 45th Vice President of the United States.
  • Canadian actress Cobie Smulders plays Ann Coulter.
• Reality Subtext: Thanks to behind-the-scenes difficulties, Impeachment didn't begin pre-production until the Summer of 2019. Just a few months after work began on that season, it was announced that then-incumbent President Donald Trump would be facing an impeachment investigation of his own. He was impeached a second time during principal photography on the series.
• Real-Life Relative: Cobie Smulders (Ann Coulter) and Taran Killam (Steve Jones) are married in real life.
• Release Date Change: Impeachment was originally intended to premiere on September 27, 2020, but it was later delayed to September 7, 2021 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
• Saved from Development Hell: Ryan Murphy had declared in April 2018 that the season about the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal and Clinton's subsequent impeachment was scrapped and no longer in development (back when it was supposed to be the fourth season of American Crime Story), but in August 2019, it was announced that the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal season was back in development as the third season of the series; instead, it was the original third season (about Hurricane Katrina) that was effectively scrapped (or at the very least indefinitely postponed).
• What Could Have Been:
  • The story about the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal and Clinton's subsequent impeachment was originally intended to be the fourth season of American Crime Story, following a season about Hurricane Katrina (tentatively titled Katrina); however, it was eventually brought forward as the third season instead (titled Impeachment), with the season about Hurricane Katrina being put on Development Hell.
  • Betty Gilpin was originally cast as Ann Coulter, but was replaced by Cobie Smulders due to scheduling conflicts related to the COVID-19 Pandemic.