Sophie Turner Joins HBO Max Crime Series 'The Staircase'

KEY POINTS

The crime series will consist of eight episodes
The limited series is produced by HBO Max and Annapurna Television
Sophie Turner will portray the character of Margaret Ratliff

The "Game of Thrones" star Sophie Turner is all set to return to the HBO family as part of a new crime series "The Staircase."

The series will showcase the true life of Michael Peterson, a novelist, who was convicted of murdering his second wife, Kathleen Peterson in 2001, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Michael had claimed his wife fell down the stairs, but the police suspected she was bludgeoned to death. The 77-year-old novelist was granted a new trial eight years after a judge noted a witness' testimony was misleading. Many books have been written about the same case.

Turner joined the previously announced star cast, which comprised Colin Firth, Toni Collette, Parker Posey, Juliette Binoche and Rosemarie DeWitt. Collette will portray Kathleen Peterson's character and Posey will play prosecutor Freda Black.

The 25-year-old actress will play one of Michael Peterson’s adopted daughters named Margaret Ratliff. Filmmaker Antonio Campos, who directed "The Devil All the Time" last year, will helm the eight-episode limited HBO Max crime series. He penned the series along with Maggie Cohn.

Along with HBO Max, Annapurna Television is also co-producing the series. Campos and Cohn serve as executive producers and showrunners.

Turner is best known for portraying Sansa Stark's role on "Game of Thrones," which was based on "A Song of Ice and Fire." Since the actress wrapped up her role of Sansa Stark in 2019, Turner has been keeping busy with various projects.

The actress went on to play Jean Grey's character in "X-Men: Apocalypse" and "X-Men: Dark Phoenix," which released in 2016 and 2019, respectively. During her time on the HBO fantasy drama, the actress earned an Emmy nomination for best-supporting actress in a drama series.

The actress also worked in television series "Survive" opposite Corey Hawkins. She also gave voice-over in the animated sitcom, "The Prince," which is slated to release in 2022.

HBO Max picked "The Staircase" in March. The original docuseries was released in 2004, and the French creator Jean-Xavier de Lestrade kept updating information regarding the case in later years. Netflix had also dropped a 13-episode series based on the incident in 2018.