Before there was TikTok, there were the Angelyne billboards. Littered across a bustling 1980s Los Angeles, an enigmatic blonde bombshell took over the town courtesy of massive billboards that featured only her posing alongside a pink corvette with her name written below. Meet Angelyne, one of L.A.’s most beloved hometown heroes and celebrities. Rising from obscurity and becoming arguably the first media influencer who became famous for being famous, Angelyne is a groundbreaking figure and the center of the upcoming Peacock original biopic limited series Angelyne. Aiming to peel back the curtains behind the myth and take viewers on a candy-colored ride through tinsel town, here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming series starring Emmy Rossum in the titular role.
Wait, So Who is Angelyne? Is She Real?
Angelyne is a celebrity and media influencer who rose to stardom in 1984 with the release of her first billboard in L.A. Sporting big blonde hair and a fierce persona, the billboard was an image of Angelyne posing suggestively with her name written on it and no other information provided. The billboard turned heads and soon everyone throughout the city was buzzing about the mysterious woman named Angelyne and her identity. More billboards went up all around, and Angelyne began booking television appearances, nabbing movie roles, releasing studio albums, and becoming a local legend. She could always be spotted with her trademark pink convertible, and to this day she still drives around L.A. in a pink car.
Originally in a punk rock band during the late 70s, the band saw little to no success and Angelyne took matters into her own hands. As she self-marketed herself on the billboards and created an image of a lavish lifestyle that intrigued the public, she’s credited for paving the way for future L.A. influencers like Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian. Little was known about her personal life or her background for decades, and she remained a mystifying figure that became part of her allure.
That all changed when the investigative article “The Mystery of L.A. Billboard Diva Angelyne’s Real Identity Is Finally Solved” written by journalist Gary Baum was published in The Hollywood Reporter in 2017 and exposed her true identity. The article revealed that Angelyne was born Ronia Tamar Goldberg in 1950 to Jewish parents in Poland who were Holocaust survivors. The family eventually moved to America and from there Angelyne invented a new self with the goal of becoming famous. Raised in and around the L.A. area, Angelyne abandoned her past in hopes of a bright future and became known as the Billboard Queen.
If you want to watch Angelyne in action, she makes a famous cameo beside her pink car in the 1988 cult-classic film Earth Girls Are Easy, in addition to playing supporting roles in the 1989 film The Malibu Beach Vampires and the 1989 action film Hardcase and Fist. Most recently, Angelyne also appeared in the critically acclaimed comedic biopic The Disaster Artist. She was also a singer who’s released several albums, with best-known songs including "Kiss Me L.A." and "Driven to Fantasy."
When and Where Can I Watch Angelyne?
Angelyne is a Peacock limited series and is only available on the Comcast-owned streaming service. In order to watch the series, you'll need to already be a subscriber to either the ad-supported Peacock Premium tier for $4.99 a month or to the ad-free Peacock Plus tier for $9.99 a month. The series will debut Thursday, May 19 with the release of all eight episodes.
Is There a Trailer for Angelyne?
The trailer for Angelyne is practically drenched in pink and bubblegum lipstick as it follows the titular influencers' rise to fame and all the dumfounded Angelenos reacting to her first billboard. The confusion turns to obsession and admiration quickly, and while the trailer has a lighthearted, whimsical feel, it explores Angelyne’s interior life that the public never got to see. Rossum’s brown hair has been traded in for a big blonde wig, and she wears blue contacts in addition to kitten heels and hot pink belts to play the iconic figure. Also donning her famous baby voice that has echoes of Marilyn Monroe and no doubt influenced Paris Hilton, Rossum is practically unrecognizable in the trailer as Angelyne. The trailer also has various flashbacks and flash-forwards with mock interviews of various people who've met Angelyne over the years, hinting that the series will jump through time as it explores the impact the billboard Queen has had on pop culture over the years.
Who Is in Angelyne?
Emmy Rossum is starring as Angelyne. Known for her work in the long-running Showtime series Shameless, this is Rossum’s first venture back into the television world after playing Fiona Gallagher in the dark comedy from 2011 to 2019. Rossum has also begun working as a director in television and directed two episodes of Shameless in addition to directing an episode of Amazon Prime Video’s Modern Love. Rossum serves as an executive producer for the upcoming series. She made her film breakthrough with a supporting performance in the 2003 film Mystic River and went on to star in films such as The Phantom of the Opera, Beautiful Creatures, and Comet.
Actor Hamish Linklater will play Rick Krauss, President of the Angelyne fan club and close friend to Angelyne herself. Linklater was a late addition to the cast and replaced Jefferson Hall who was originally slated to play Krauss. Linklater recently starred in the critically acclaimed Netflix original horror series Midnight Mass. His other notable credits include FX’s Fargo and Amazon Prime Video’s Tell Me Your Secrets. Linklater is currently starring in the Starz limited series Gaslit as Jeb Magruder alongside a stacked cast that includes Julia Roberts, Sean Penn, Betty Gilpin, and Dan Stevens.
Alex Karpovsky will star as Jess Glasner. The Glasner character is based upon The Hollywood Reporter journalist Gary Baum, who broke the story on Angelyne’s background and wrote the 2017 investigative article. Karpovsky is best known for his work in the HBO series Girls and the Amazon Prime Video series Homecoming.
Lukas Gage will co-star as Max Allen. Gage’s previous credits include roles in two HBO shows: Euphoria and The White Lotus. The rest of the cast features Charlie Rowe as Freddy Messina, and Kerry Nortan as Edi Wallach. Martin Freeman will have a recurring role as the owner of a printing company who works with Angelyne on her first couple of Billboard campaigns.
Who Is the Creative Team Behind Angelyne?
Angelyne is created by Nancy Oliver. An acclaimed writer and producer, Oliver produced the HBO series True Blood and wrote several episodes of the series. She also wrote serveral episodes for HBO’s Six Feet Under. She wrote her debut screenplay for the 2007 film Lars and the Real Girl, for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
Sam Esmail and Chad Hamilton serve as co-executive producers alongside Rossum, The Hollywood Reporter, and Lucy Tcherniak. Esmail and Hamilton have worked on several prior projects together, and co-executive produced the television series Mr. Robot, Briarpatch, and Homecoming. The pair is currently executive producing the Starz limited series Gaslit.
Lucy Tcherniak directs four out of the eight Angelyne episodes, including the premiere episode “The Ride.” Tcherniak directed multiple episodes throughout the first season of the critically acclaimed Netflix Original Series The End of the F***ing World, and most recently directed two episodes of the HBO Max Limited series Station Eleven. Matt Spicer (Dollface) is also directing the upcoming series.
So What is Angelyne (The Show) About?
Following the release of her first billboard in 1984 and going on a wild ride from there as Angelyne garners fame and money, the series is a decked-out period piece baked in the hot California sun. While it's hamming up the glitz and glamour and the outrageousness that Angelyne was and is still known for, the series is also piercing through the surface and wiping away all the makeup to examine who Angelyne is underneath the surface, and how her heritage and where she came from made her into the woman she is today.
It’s important to note that the upcoming series is an unauthorized biography that the real-life Angelyne is not involved with as she still refuses to discuss her background and true identity. Thanks to the revealing 2017 Hollywood Reporter article, it finally put to rest the many questions surrounding Angelyne and shattered the persona she so carefully built over the years. Angelyne is going to be based upon the investigative article and her complex dual role as a public figure and the woman living underneath. The series will also focus on who she was before she became Angelyne and the daily grind of trying to make it as a star while exploring her roots as the daughter of Holocaust survivors. A long labor of love due to the COVID-19 pandemic, recastings, and other hurtles, the series has been in the works for four and a half years.