Lead actress leaves Hulu's Amanda Knox limited series

Margaret Qualley has withdrawn from the role of Amanda Knox in Hulu's upcoming series due to scheduling reasons. The as-yet-untitled project from writer KJ Steinberg and 20th Television in collaboration with The Littlefield Company was officially greenlit last month with Qualley on board as lead actress and executive producer. The role is now being recast. The development will not affect production plans, as the eight episodes of the series are scheduled to be filmed in October.



Qualley (pictured), a two-time Emmy nominee for Netflix's Maid and FX's Fosse/Verdon, just saw her two upcoming films, Kinds of Kindness and The Substance, both selected to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. She previously appeared in HBO's supernatural drama series The Leftovers.

The Hulu limited series follows Knox's 16-year struggle to clear her name after she was wrongly convicted of murdering her roommate Meredith Kercher.

Steinberg is executive producing alongside Warren Littlefield, Lisa Harrison, Ann Johnson, & Graham Littlefield of The Littlefield Company; as well as Monica Lewinsky, Knox and Chris Robinson of Knox Robinson Productions.

Hulu and 20th TV found themselves in a similar situation in 2021 with another true crime-based limited series, The Dropout, about disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes. Kate McKinnon, who was originally set to star and produce, dropped out. Amanda Seyfried got the lead role and won an Emmy. Meanwhile, McKinnon co-starred in last year's biggest movie, Barbie.