Jessica Biel Replacing Elisabeth Moss in Hulu’s True-Crime Thriller Candy

Elisabeth Moss is handing Jessica Biel the ax.

Due to scheduling conflicts, Moss will no longer be playing real-life ax murderer Candy Montgomery in Hulu’s upcoming limited series Candy, our sister site Deadline reports. Instead, the role will be portrayed by Biel, last seen on screen in Facebook Watch’s Limetown in 2019.

Candy Montgomery was a Texas housewife in 1980 who “seemingly had it all — loving husband with a good job, a daughter and a son, a nice house in the brand new suburbs — so why did she kill her friend from church with an ax?” the show’s official description asks.

Robin Veith, who worked with Moss on Mad Men, wrote the pilot script and will serve as an executive producer. Veith previously served as a writer and co-EP on Hulu’s true-crime miniseries The Act, also produced by UCP. Plus, Nick Antosca (The Act, Channel Zero) will serve as an EP under his banner Eat the Cat, along with Alex Hedlund.

Biel also joins as an executive producer alongside her Iron Ocean producing partner Michelle Purple.

Michael Uppendahl (Mad Men, Fargo and Impeachment: American Crime Story) will direct the pilot and serve as executive producer.

Your thoughts on this unexpected swap? Drop ’em in a comment below.