John Slattery Cast as Iconic Character in The Rainmaker

Mad Men actor John Slattery has been added to the cast of USA Network's drama series The Rainmaker. The Rainmaker received a series order from cable network NBCUniversal in June, ending a six-year journey by Seitzman to bring the book to television. Seitzman and Jason Richman wrote the pilot script, with Seitzman serving as series writer. The two executive produce alongside Grisham, Jason Blum and David Gernert.

The series is based on John Grisham's best-selling novel and the film of the same name.



Slattery (pictured) plays one of Grisham's most iconic characters, Leo F. Drummond, a legendary courtroom lion and senior partner at Tinley Britt, the powerful firm which Rudy Baylor takes on. Jon Voight played Leo in Francis Ford Coppola's 1997 film.

The series from Lionsgate and Blumhouse writer and executive producer Michael Seitzman follows Baylor as a fresh-out-of-law graduate who goes up against courtroom lion Drummond and his law school girlfriend. Rudy, along with his boss and her disheveled assistant, uncover two conspiracies surrounding the mysterious death of their client's son.

The project is likely part of the Blue Sky brand that USA Network is reviving with new series. That programming initiative, unveiled last fall, calls for developing series with budgets of $2 million to $3 million per episode, recognizing the economic realities of basic cable, which has been hit hard by cord-cutting and the general decline of linear viewing. The budget for The Rainmaker is said to be at the higher end of that range. USA Network's Blue Sky era included legal series like Suits and Fairly Legal.

Slattery received four Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in the critically acclaimed series Mad Men. He starred as Roger Sterling throughout the series’ seven seasons and also directed.

Other television roles include Paramount+’s The Good Fight, Fox’s neXt (2020) and FX’s Mrs. America on Hulu. He received a Critics Choice Award nomination for Best Guest Actor for his role in Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp.