CUBA GOODING JR. CAST AS O.J. SIMPSON, SARAH PAULSON AS MARCIA CLARK IN "AMERICAN CRIME STORY: THE PEOPLE V. O.J. SIMPSON"

Academy Award(R)-winning Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. to Star in the First Installment of the New Anthology Series from Prolific Award-Winning Producer Ryan Murphy and Executive Producers Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Brad Falchuk, Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski and Dante Di Loreto

American Horror Story's Sarah Paulson to Star Opposite Gooding Jr. as the Relentless Prosecutor in the High-Profile Murder Case

Written by Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski and Directed by Ryan Murphy Based on the Book The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson by Jeffrey Toobin

LOS ANGELES, December 9, 2014 - Academy Award(R)-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr. will play football star turned murder defendant O.J. Simpson and Emmy(R) Award and Golden Globe(R) Award nominated actress Sarah Paulson will portray prosecutor Marcia Clark in the first installment of Ryan Murphy's new anthology miniseries for FX, American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson.

Cuba Gooding Jr. won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Jerry Maguire in 1996 and has earned critical acclaim for his work in feature films and television. His feature credits include As Good as It Gets, Men of Honor, American Gangster, Red Tails and Lee Daniels' The Butler. Gooding Jr. is currently appearing in theaters in Selma and is in production on The Book of Negroes. His television credits range from Hill Street Blues and MacGyver to the recent TV movie Summoned and the upcoming Comedy Central series Big Time in Hollywood, FL.

Sarah Paulson is currently starring in American Horror Story: Freak Show as "Bette Tattler/Dot Tattler." Paulson previously starred in the third installment of the critically acclaimed series American Horror Story: Coven for which she received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie. In the anthology series' second season, Paulson earned a Critics Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Movie or Miniseries as well as an Emmy nomination for her work as "Lana Winters." Paulson was also nominated for an Emmy Award as well as a Golden Globe Award for HBO's 2012 television movie Game Change, and earned a Golden Globe Award nomination in 2006 for the NBC comedy series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. On film, Paulson was last seen in director Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave, which was named Best Picture at the Academy Awards, and has starred in such critically acclaimed features as Mud and Martha Marcy May Marlene. She recently completed production on Todd Hayne's latest film Carol opposite Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara.

Murphy developed American Crime Series to focus each season on a different true crime story which made headlines and captivated the imagination of the public. The first installment, American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson, is based on the book The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson by Jeffrey Toobin.

Murphy joins Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson (The Hunger Games, Diary of a Wimpy Kid) and Brad Falchuk (Glee, American Horror Story, co-created with Murphy) as Executive Producers of American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson, alongside Golden Globe-winning screenwriter Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. Dante Di Loreto also serves as an Executive Producer, with Murphy set to direct. The first two hours of the miniseries will be written by Alexander and Karaszewski (The People vs. Larry Flynt, Ed Wood, Man on the Moon). Production begins early next year in Los Angeles. It is produced by FXP and Fox 21 Television Studios, the companies that co-produce the long-running hit series Sons of Anarchy for the network.

American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson is a look at the O.J. Simpson trial told from the perspective of the lawyers that explores the chaotic behind-the-scenes dealings and maneuvering on both sides of the court, and how a combination of prosecution confidence, defense wiliness, and the LAPD's history with the city's African-American community gave a jury what it needed: reasonable doubt.

Ryan Murphy is the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning writer/producer and director of the hit series Glee (FOX) and Nip/Tuck (FX) and the miniseries American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Asylum, American Horror Story: Coven, and the newest installment, American Horror Story: Freak Show. The first three installments of the AHS franchise have scored 51 Emmy Award nominations, and have earned its star Jessica Lange two Emmys, a Screen Actors Guild award and a Golden Globe. Murphy most recently won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Made for Television Movie for The Normal Heart (HBO), based on Larry Kramer's award-winning play of the same title about early days of HIV-AIDS crisis in New York City's gay community in the early 1980s.

Since its inception, Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson's Color Force production company has proven to be a hotbed for bringing beloved literary adaptations to the big screen. Nina Jacobson, along with her partner Brad Simpson, have been able to secure valuable partnerships with several favorite pop culture writers, including Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games trilogy), David Nicholls (One Day) and Jeff Kinney (The Wimpy Kid series). The company is currently developing several best-selling novels including Maria Semple's Where'd You Go, Bernadette? with Annapurna Pictures, Kevin Kwan's Crazy Rich Asians and Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch. In 2014, Color Force signed a first-look feature deal with Fox 2000. Color Force also has a first-look cable television deal with FX Productions. American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson will be the first production under this pact. Color Force's films The Hunger Games and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire have grossed a combined $1.5 billion worldwide. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, the third film in the series, was released by Lionsgate on November 21, 2014, to be followed by the final film in the series, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 on November 20, 2015.

Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski are Golden Globe Award-winning screenwriters. They redefined the biopic genre with Ed Wood, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Man on the Moon, and the upcoming Christmas Day release Big Eyes.

Sarah Paulson is represented by UTA.

Murphy is represented by CAA and attorney Craig Emmanuel of Loeb & Loeb LLP.

Jacobson and Simpson are represented by CAA.

Alexander and Karaszewski are represented by CAA and attorney Christine Cuddy of Kleinberg, Lange, Cuddy & Carlo LLP.

Falchuk is represented by WME and Gendler & Kelly, APC.

The rights for Jeffrey Toobin's book, The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson, were represented by ICM Partners.

ABOUT FX

FX is the flagship general entertainment basic cable channel of FX Networks, a business unit of Fox Networks Group. FX Networks is comprised of FX, FXM and FXX, its newest channel, which debuted on September 2, 2013. Launched in June of 1994, FX is carried in more than 95 million homes. The diverse schedule features a growing roster of critically-acclaimed and award-winning hit dramas series, including Sons of Anarchy, Justified, The Americans, Tyrant and The Strain; the critically-acclaimed miniseries' American Horror Story and Fargo and the upcoming miniseries American Crime Story; acclaimed hit comedy series including the award-winning Louie, Archer, Married and upcoming The Comedians, Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll and Baskets. FX is the former home of the critically-acclaimed and award winning hit drama series' The Shield, Nip/Tuck, Rescue Me and Damages. The network's library of acquired box-office hit movies is unmatched by any ad-supported television network. FX's roster of acquired hit series includes Two and a Half Men, Anger Management, In Living Color and Mike & Molly.

ABOUT FOX 21 TELEVISION STUDIOS

The newly formed Fox 21 Television Studios is a production unit housed within Fox Television Group devoted to making creatively ambitious scripted and unscripted series for all distribution platforms. Fox 21 Television Studios currently produces the Emmy and Golden Globe winning Homeland starring Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin, the critically acclaimed The Americans (with FX Productions) starring Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell, Kurt Sutter's smash hit Sons of Anarchy (with FX Productions), Brannon Braga and Adam Simon's supernatural hit Salem, Veena Sud's The Killing, Howard Gordon's Tyrant, and Legends from Howard Gordon and Jonathan Levin. In addition to American Crime Story: The People V. O.J. Simpson, this spring, the studio begins production on The Bastard Executioner (with FX productions) from Brian Grazer, Kurt Sutter, and Paris Barclay and The Comedians from Larry Charles, Matt Nix and Ben Wexler, and starring Billy Crystal and Josh Gad.

ABOUT FX PRODUCTIONS

FX Productions (FXP) produces FX's newest acclaimed hit drama series The Strain; the comedy series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The League, Louie, Archer, Married and You're the Worst; and the upcoming comedies Man Seeking Woman (Jan. 2015) and The Untitled Tracy Morgan Project (TBD). FXP co-produces the drama series Sons of Anarchy, Justified, The American and Tyrant; the miniseries Fargo, which scored 18 Emmy(R) Award nominations and won the Emmy award for Outstanding miniseries; and the upcoming comedy Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll. In 2014, FXP shows combined to deliver 28 Emmy Award nominations including Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Miniseries, and Outstanding Animated Program.