Isabela Merced will play Lorena Bobbitt in the second installment of Hulu's true-crime anthology Good American Family, with Patrick Schwarzenegger cast opposite her as John Bobbitt.
Deadline first reported the casting Monday, and Laughing Place and TVLine followed with the news. The still-untitled limited series revisits the 1993 Virginia case in which Lorena Bobbitt cut off her husband's penis with a kitchen knife, an act she later tied to abuse during their marriage.
A new chapter for the anthology
Hulu announced in August that the show would become an anthology built on a new true story each season, TheWrap reported. The first season, which premiered in March 2025, starred Ellen Pompeo and Mark Duplass in the story of the Barnetts and Natalia Grace, the adopted child they came to claim was an adult.
Creator Katie Robbins returns as writer and executive producer. Pompeo also executive produces through her Calamity Jane banner with Laura Holstein, alongside Andrew Stearn, but will not appear on screen this time. The season's logline frames the Bobbitts as a couple who "incited a media circus that treated trauma as entertainment."
The role is another high-profile turn for Merced, who led Dora and the Lost City of Gold, played Hawkgirl in Superman and plays Dina on HBO's The Last of Us. Schwarzenegger's credits include Gen V, The Staircase and the third season of The White Lotus.
The case has been retold before. Dani Montalvo played Lorena in Lifetime's 2020 film I Was Lorena Bobbitt, which Lorena Bobbitt narrated and executive produced, and Jordan Peele produced the 2019 Amazon docuseries Lorena, which featured interviews with both Lorena and John.
The new season joins Hulu's lineup of ripped-from-the-headlines series, including Under the Bridge and The Dropout.
No premiere date has been announced.
