EXCLUSIVE: Actress-singer Krysta Rodriguez (Smash, Trial & Error) has been cast opposite Ewan McGregor in Halston, Ryan Murphy’s Netflix limited series starring McGregor as the iconic designer. Rodriguez will play Liza Minnelli, Halston’s muse and best friend.

Ryan Murphy Shutterstock; Netflix

Little is known about Halston. In the project’s original incarnation, before Murphy came on board and made it one of the projects under his mega Netflix deal, it was written by Sharr White (The Affair) and to be directed by Dan Minahan, who worked with Murphy on another limited series about a famous designer, FX’s Versace: American Crime Story.. Halston is believed to be tracking Halston (born Roy Halston Frowick) as he leverages his single, invented name into a worldwide fashion empire that’s synonymous with luxury, sex, status and fame, literally defining the era he lives in, 1970’s and ‘80’s New York — until a hostile takeover forces him to battle for control of his most precious asset… the name Halston itself.

Halston started off as a milliner and rose to fame after designing the pillbox hat Jacqueline Kennedy wore to her husband’s presidential inauguration in 1961. He then segued to women’s wear with designs that were deemed minimalist but sophisticated, glamorous but comfortable. Halston had a slew of celebrity clients including Elizabeth Taylor, Lauren Bacall, Anjelica Huston, Margaux Hemingway, Bianca Jagger and Minnelli. His friendship with Minnelli carried on for decades.

2020 Netflix Pilots & Series Orders

Halston extends Rodriguez’s relationship with Netflix, where she is coming off a co-starring role opposite Matthew Broderick in post-apocalyptic dramedy Daybreak. Her other TV credits include Smash, Trial & Error and Quantico.

Like Minnelli, Rodriguez is a singer and a Broadway actress. Her stage credits include The Addams Family and Spring Awakening. The two appeared together on NBC’s Broadway-themed series Smash, on which Rodriguez was a series regular and Minnelli guest-starred. Rodrigues is repped by Paradigm and Authentic Talent and Literary Management.