Woody Harrelson And Justin Theroux Star As Nixon's Infamous Aides In The First Trailer For White House Plumbers
On December 9, we finally got our first trailer for HBO's upcoming "White House Plumbers," with Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux in what may be their best roles to date. Harrelson plays E. Howard Hunt, a former CIA operative who claimed in 2003 to know all about the plot to kill John F. Kennedy. Theroux plays G. Gordon Liddy, a lawyer who was previously an FBI agent. The two are told by President Nixon's White House Counsel John Dean (Domhnall Gleeson) that their job is to make sure Nixon wins the upcoming election against George McGovern through any means necessary, including "sabotage, espionage, infiltration, bare-knuckle tactics. The same s*** they do to us every election."
Both actors are as well-known for their dramatic acting as their off-the-wall comedic performances in films like "Wanderlust" and "Zoolander" for Theroux, and "Kingpin" and "Zombieland" for Harrelson. "White House Plumbers" marks the first time the pair have appeared in a series together, but if their zeal for their roles as the bumbling "Plumbers" is anything to go on, we hope this won't be the last time.
The pair were loyal to Nixon til the end
"White House Plumbers" is set to be a five-part series based on the book "Integrity" written by Egil "Bud" Krogh and Matthew Krogh. A secret Special Investigations Unit in the White House put together by Egil Krogh, the nickname "The Plumbers" supposedly came from a relative of Krogh's assistant, David Young. "David Young's mother‐in‐law or grandmother or somebody saw in The New York Times that Krogh and Young were working on leaks. She called the story to his attention, saying, 'Your grandfather would be proud of you, working on leaks at the White House. He was a plumber,'" the group's secretary, Kathleen Chenow, told The New York Times. "So David put up a sign on the door which said, 'Mr. Young—Plumber."
Thanks to The Plumbers and their breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters, the help they gave the Nixon administration also caused its downfall. Both E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy believed they had done nothing wrong, and refused to cooperate and testify, leading to them serving time in prison. "I cannot escape feeling that the country I have served for my entire life and which directed me to carry out the Watergate entry is punishing me for doing the very things it trained and directed me to do," Hunt said (via Rolling Stone).
Watching Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux inhabit these infamous characters will be fascinating. The rest of the stellar cast includes Lena Headey, Judy Greer, Ike Barinholtz, Kiernan Shipka, and Kathleen Turner, and is set to premiere in March 2023.