Angelyne the billboard queen is coming to the screen.
It’s been more than two years since Peacock first teased its Angelyne miniseries, starring Shameless alum Emmy Rossum as the bleach-blond L.A. icon. Now the long-anticipated show is finally debuting on May 19, and the latest trailer offers the best look yet at Rossum’s transformation — from the icy blond curls to that legendary pink Corvette.
The real Angelyne became a Los Angeles staple in the 1980s after she put up billboards around the city as a way to advertise herself (and her pink-clad silhouette). Whether she was stopping traffic with her billboards or simply speeding around town in her rose-colored car, she soon helped pioneer the idea of being famous just for being famous. Before long she became a neon pink icon in her own right, releasing music, appearing in films, and occasionally running for governor of California.
“Since I was a girl, I’ve known that fame was my destiny,” Rossum’s Angelyne says in the trailer. “Huge, gigantic fame. So I said, ‘I’m going to get the love of the world.'”
Showrunner Allison Miller has described Angelyne as “not a straightforward biopic” but a “story inspired by everything Angelyne represents,” and the trailer hints at how the series will play with perspective, exploring the different stories and narratives that popped up in Angelyne’s orbit.
In addition to Rossum — who’s nearly unrecognizable in a sky-high blond wig –, the cast also includes Martin Freeman, Hamish Linklater, Michael Angarano, Molly Ephraim, and Philip Ettinger, Lukas Gage, Charlie Rowe, Alex Karpovsky, David Krumholtz, and Antjuan Tobias.
“I’ve spent the better part of four years thinking, living, and breathing this project,” Rossum previously said. “I love Angelyne. She’s as if Marilyn Monroe got into an Easy-Bake oven with an ’80s punk Barbie Doll and a dose of New Age spirituality. She’s a trailblazer, a hustler, a visionary, the original influencer, a living, breathing piece of art.”
