26 January, 2026 Siobhan Marie Day 0 Comments 3 categories

Actors Michael Shannon (‘The Shape of Water,’ ‘Nocturnal Animals’) and Matthew Macfadyen (‘Succession,’ ‘Pride & Prejudice’) share stories and insight from their performances in ‘Death by Lightning’, moderated by Kim Roots, TVLine. This interview is part of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations series, an essential resource for actors, featuring leading actors and casts sharing their experiences, insights and craft. The views expressed in the presentation materials and films, and by the guests and moderators are solely those of the organization and/or individual providing them and do not reflect the opinions of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, its staff or Board of Directors.

Michael Shannon and Matthew Macfadyen for Death By Lightning | SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations…

Historical drama lives and dies by performance. Costumes, production design, and writing can reconstruct the past — but it is the actors who ultimately breathe life into the people who shaped history.

Created by Mike Makowsky Based on Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard Directed by Matt Ross Starring Michael Shannon Matthew Macfadyen Betty Gilpin Shea Whigham Bradley Whitford Nick Offerman Composer Ramin Djawadi Country of origin United States Original language English No. of seasons 1 No. of episodes 4 Production Executive producers Matt Ross Mike Makowsky Bernadette Caulfield David Benioff D. B. Weiss Running time 47–66 minutes Production companies BLB Slater Hall Pictures Pixie Skye Original release Network Netflix Release November 6, 2025

In this SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations interview, actors Michael Shannon and Matthew Macfadyen sit down with TVLine’s Kim Roots to discuss their work on the historical drama series Death by Lightning.

The series dramatizes the turbulent final chapter of the life of James A. Garfield, the twentieth president of the United States, whose presidency was tragically cut short by assassination in 1881. Adapted from the historical nonfiction book Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard, the series explores the strange convergence of politics, ambition, and obsession that led to Garfield’s death — and the unlikely figure who changed the course of American history.

James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 1881 until his death in September that year after being shot in July . A preacher, lawyer, and Civil War general, Garfield served nine terms in the United States House of Representatives and is the only sitting member of the House to be elected president. Before he ran for president, the Ohio General Assembly had elected him to the U.S. Senate, a position he declined upon becoming president-elect. Garfield was born into poverty in a log cabin and grew up in northeast Ohio. After graduating from Williams College in 1856, he studied law and became an attorney. Garfield was a preacher in the Restoration Movement and president of the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute, affiliated with the Disciples.[a] He was elected as a Republican member of the Ohio State Senate in 1859, serving until 1861. Garfield opposed Confederate secession, was a major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and fought in the battles of Middle Creek, Shiloh, and Chickamauga. He was elected to Congress in 1862 to represent Ohio's 19th district. Throughout his congressional service, Garfield firmly supported the gold standard and gained a reputation as a skilled orator. He initially agreed with Radical Republican views on Reconstruction but later favored a Moderate Republican–aligned approach to civil rights enforcement for freedmen. Garfield's aptitude for mathematics extended to his own proof of the Pythagorean theorem, published in 1876, and his advocacy of using statistics to inform government policy. At the 1880 Republican National Convention, delegates chose Garfield, who had not sought the White House, as a compromise presidential nominee on the 36th ballot. In the 1880 presidential election, he conducted a low-key front porch campaign and narrowly defeated the Democratic nominee, Winfield Scott Hancock. Garfield's accomplishments as president included his assertion of presidential authority against senatorial courtesy in executive appointments, a purge of corruption in the Post Office, and his appointment of a Supreme Court justice. He advocated for agricultural technology, an educated electorate, and civil rights for African Americans. He also proposed substantial civil service reforms, which were passed by Congress in 1883 as the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act and signed into law by his successor, Chester A. Arthur. Garfield was a member of the intraparty "Half-Breed" faction that used the powers of the presidency to defy the powerful "Stalwart" Senator Roscoe Conkling from New York. He did this by appointing Blaine faction leader William H. Robertson to the lucrative post of Collector of the Port of New York. The ensuing political battle resulted in Robertson's confirmation and the resignations of Conkling and Thomas C. Platt from the Senate. On July 2, 1881, Garfield was shot by Charles J. Guiteau, a deluded office seeker. He died on September 19 from infections related to the wounds and was succeeded by Vice President Chester A. Arthur. Due to Garfield's brief term in office and lack of major changes during his tenure, historians tend to rank him as a below-average president or omit his name entirely from rankings, though some view Garfield's potential favorably, praising him for anti-corruption and pro-civil rights stances.[2]

James A. Garfield was one of the most extraordinary men ever elected president. Born into abject poverty, he rose to become a wunderkind scholar, a Civil War hero, and a renowned and admired reformist congressman. Nominated for president against his will, he engaged in a fierce battle with the corrupt political establishment. But four months after his inauguration, a deranged office seeker tracked Garfield down and shot him in the back. But the shot didn’t kill Garfield. The drama of what happened subsequently is a powerful story of a nation in turmoil. The unhinged assassin’s half-delivered strike shattered the fragile national mood of a country so recently fractured by civil war, and left the wounded president as the object of a bitter behind-the-scenes struggle for power—over his administration, over the nation’s future, and, hauntingly, over his medical care. A team of physicians administered shockingly archaic treatments, to disastrous effect. As his condition worsened, Garfield received help: Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, worked around the clock to invent a new device capable of finding the bullet. Meticulously researched, epic in scope, and pulsating with an intimate human focus and high-velocity narrative drive, The Destiny of the Republic will stand alongside The Devil in the White City and The Professor and the Madman as a classic of narrative history.

Candice Sue Millard (born 1967) is an American writer and journalist. She is a former writer and editor for National Geographic and the author of four books: The River of Doubt, a history of the Roosevelt–Rondon Scientific Expedition of the Amazon rainforest in 1913–14; Destiny of the Republic, about the life and assassination of United States President James A. Garfield; Hero of the Empire, about Winston Churchill's activities during the Boer War; and River of the Gods, about the search for the source of the Nile River.

Michael Shannon as James A. Garfield in the limited series "Death by Lighning" (2025) Photo Credit: Netflix

Matthew Macfadyen as Charles J. Guiteau in the limited series "Death by Lighning" (2025) Photo Credit: Netflix

In the conversation, Shannon and Macfadyen reflect on the craft of portraying real historical figures: the research required, the emotional complexity of stepping into the past, and the delicate balance between historical accuracy and dramatic storytelling. The discussion also offers insight into how actors approach characters whose legacies remain embedded in American political memory.

Michael Shannon as James A. Garfield in the limited series "Death by Lighning" (2025) Matthew Macfadyen as Charles J. Guiteau in the limited series "Death by Lighning" (2025) Photo Credit: Netflix Photo Credit: Netflix

For viewers fascinated by the intersection of history and performance, the conversation provides a rare behind-the-scenes look at how a historical narrative moves from page to screen — and how actors translate real lives into compelling drama.