EXCLUSIVE: Showtime has found its missing President. Ann Dowd (The Handmaid’s Tale) has been cast in the key role opposite David Oyelowo in The President Is Missing, Showtime’s drama pilot based on the novel by President Bill Clinton and James Patterson from Christopher McQuarrie and Anthony Peckham.

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In The President Is Missing pilot, a powerless and politically aimless vice president (Oyelowo) unexpectedly becomes president halfway into his administration’s first term when President Jillian Stroud (Dowd) goes missing, despite his every wish to the contrary. He walks right into a secret, world-threatening crisis, both inside and outside the White House. Attacked by friends and enemies alike, with scandal and conspiracy swirling around him, he is confronted with a terrible choice: keep his head down, toe the party line and survive, or act on his stubborn, late-developing conscience and take a stand.

Ohio bred, Dowd’s Stroud is the daughter of a Senator and the granddaughter of a Congressman. She is the first female President of the U.S., combining compassion with steely dissolve.

In addition to Oyelowo, Dowd joins previously announced Janet McTeer, Paul Adelstein, Medina Senghore, Gina Gallego and Michael Rooker.

The President Is Missing is executive produced by Christopher McQuarrie and Heather McQuarrie, Peckham, Clinton, Patterson, Bill Robinson, Leopoldo Gout and Oyelowo and co-executive produced by Jillian Share for Invisible Ink Productions. Peckham is writing the adaptation.

Dowd was twice nominated for a supporting actress Emmy for her performance as Aunt Lydia on The Handmaid’s Tale, winning in 2017, the same year that she received a guest acting Emmy nomination for The Leftovers. She also earned a Golden Globe nomination for The Handmaid’s Tale. On the big screen, Dowd will next be seen in Netflix’s remake of Daphne du Maurier’s classic Gothic novel Rebecca.