adaptations

Jennifer Garner Is The Last Thing He Told Me Show’s New Starring Stepmom

Julia Roberts and Reese Witherspoon. Photo: Getty

Update, Friday, November 12: So … we have an update on the last thing we told you about The Last Thing He Told Me adaptation. Per Deadline, Jennifer Garner will now star in the limited TV series based on the New York Times best seller, playing a woman whose husband’s disappearance brings her closer to her stepdaughter. Julia Roberts previously signed on to play the role, but reportedly had to pull out due to a scheduling issue. In addition to taking on the part, Garner will join Reese Witherspoon as an executive producer for the Apple TV+ show. Beyond that, though, little has changed; Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine production company is still producing, and The Last Thing He Told Me author Laura Dave will join her husband, Josh Singer, in adapting. And we still haven’t gotten any word on a release date for the show. So if you’re particular about reading the book before watching the adaptation, you should still have plenty of time to get a copy. Happy reading!

Original story follows.

Reese Witherspoon’s book-and-TV empire has gotten so powerful that she’s optioning books that aren’t even out yet. Laura Dave’s upcoming The Last Thing He Told Me is the latest adaptation from Witherspoon’s production company, Hello Sunshine, which previously brought us adaptations including Big Little Lies, Little Fires Everywhere, and The Morning Show (which, yes, was based off Brian Stelter’s Top of the Morning!). The Apple TV+ limited series will star Julia Roberts — who also recently jumped on a Netflix adaptation of Rumaan Alam’s Leave the World Behind — as a woman who gets closer to her stepdaughter after her husband goes missing. It will be adapted by Dave, along with her husband Josh Singer, an Oscar winner for Spotlight. Dave’s previous books include London Is the Best City in America, Eight Hundred Grapes, and, most recently, a book called Hello, Sunshine with no relation to the production company. (London, though, was previously optioned as a movie to star Witherspoon in 2005.) The Last Thing He Told Me the book is out May 4, 2021 — giving you plenty of time to make those preorders before the series is available for streaming.

Jennifer Garner to Star in The Last Thing He Told Me Show