Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer have stepped into their new HBO film, Wizard of Lies, which has been described as a behind-the-scenes look at Bernie Madoff‘s Ponzi scheme, how the public portrayed it, and how it affected his family, as well as the victims.
In the first photo, Michelle takes on Ruth Madoff, looking unrecognizable and supportive behind her husband played by the legendary actor.
Dressed all in black, Robert De Niro is also pictured wearing monogrammed slippers and an electronic tag around his ankle.
Madoff, a former chairman of the Nasdaq stock exchange, was jailed for 150 years in 2009 after pleading guilty to a massive Ponzi scheme that duped stars such as actors John Malkovich and Kevin Bacon, and director Steven Spielberg.
Madoff took money from new investors to pay off earlier investors, essentially recycling the cash.
Seven years after Bernie Madoff’s arrest, two television projects depicting the disgraced investment adviser who operated the largest Ponzi scheme in history are currently in production.
The first, an ABC mini-series starring Richard Dreyfuss and Blythe Danner as Bernie and his wife Ruth Madoff premiered its first sneak peek this summer.
First image of @RichardDreyfuss and Blythe Danner as Bernie and Ruth Madoff in the ABC News miniseries "Madoff." pic.twitter.com/MfF1831dIt
— Kate Aurthur (@KateAurthur) June 26, 2015
And now HBO’s anticipated TV movie 'The Wizard of Lies' has debuted its first photo of Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer in character as the once-powerful Manhattan couple.
In 2011, Ruth went on 60 Minutes and revealed that she and her husband considered suicide in 2008, on Christmas Eve, after all the hate they were getting. “It was so horrendous what was happening,” Ruth said. “We had terrible phone calls. Hate mail, just beyond anything and I said ‘…I just can’t go on anymore.'” With that, they took many pills, including Ambien and possibly Klonopin.
“We took pills and woke up the next day. It was very impulsive and I am glad we woke up,” she added.
Her son, Andrew Madoff, who passed away from cancer in 2014, also added that his mother had sent him sentimental valuables as well. “She told me that she and my father had planned to kill themselves. They put that package together beforehand and sent it out.”
