Amy Madigan to Star Alongside Viola Davis in New Thriller "Ascent" for Paramount+

Created by John Logan and Produced by Paramount Television Studios, Ascent is Set to Begin Production in Los Angeles in 2027

Photo Credit: Ian Spanier

OCTOBER 26, 2026 - It was announced today that Oscar(R) and Golden Globe(R) winning actress Amy Madigan (Weapons, Field of Dreams) will star alongside Emmy(R), Grammy(R), Oscar(R), and Tony(R) Award-winning actress and executive producer Viola Davis in Ascent, a new thriller for Paramount+.

Amy Madigan will play "Rachel" a former executive at Ascent Ventures and Catriona's (Davis) lifelong mentor.

Ascent is a character-driven thriller set in the dangerous world of global corporate crisis and damage control. Davis will play, "Catriona," an elite corporate fixer, who must weaponize the ruthless skills that have made her indispensable to billion-dollar clients when her estranged daughter is in danger.

As previously announced, Sam Heughan will play "Conal," one of Ascent Ventures top agents.

Produced by Paramount Television Studios, Ascent is created by Tony Award winner and three-time Oscar (R) nominee John Logan (Skyfall, Gladiator, Michael, Penny Dreadful), who will serve as showrunner and executive producer alongside executive producers Michael Aguilar (Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, Kidding, The Departed), and Viola Davis & Julius Tennon for JuVee Productions.

The series will premiere globally exclusively on Paramount+, with production slated to begin in Los Angeles in 2027.

Amy Madigan Bio: Amy Madigan recently starred as "Aunt Gladys" in the hit film Weapons, which earned her an Oscar(R) award for Best Supporting Actress. In film she has also been seen in Field of Dreams, Twice in a Lifetime, Rebuilding, Stuck, Antlers, The Hunt, Gone Baby Gone, Uncle Buck, Places in the Heart, and Streets of Fire. She'll next be seen in Sponsor, with Jason Segal and John C. Reilly.

On television, Madigan received a Golden Globe(R) Award and an Emmy(R) nomination for her performance in Roe Vs. Wade. Additional credits include Fringe, Grey's Anatomy, The Laramie Project, Carnivale, and Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, as well as the upcoming limited series All the Sinners Bleed and Ryan Coogler's X-Files reboot.

Madigan made her West End debut with Sam Shepard's Buried Child, and has also been seen in The Jacksonian, A Streetcar Named Desire, A Lie of the Mind, and The Lucky Spot.

Rep Info: Paradigm and Anonymous Content