Robert De Niro's Netflix political thriller Zero Day will mark a new direction for the double Oscar-winner, with him set to play a former U.S. president in the TV miniseries. It's his first role with political connotations in almost two decades and brings to mind a classic satire of American politics from the 1990s, in which De Niro played the ing role alongside Dustin Hoffman's corrupt Hollywood producer. Wag the Dog was widely praised when it came out in December 1997, not least because its plot was strangely prescient about the last years of Bill Clinton's presidency. However, it's largely been forgotten since then.

Wag the Dog is well worth watching for any fans of De Niro's work, as well as anyone with a certain nostalgia for '90s movies and politics. Both the movie and the series Zero Day revolve around the manipulation of the truth. While an old-fashioned spin doctor gets the president out of trouble in Wag the Dog, a global cyberattack will spark an investigation into political conspiracy theories in Zero Day. The parallels are undeniable, and it could be that De Niro's well-publicized stance on one of Clinton's successors has motivated his decision to take a leading TV role for the first time.

Wag The Dog Features De Niro As The President's Spin Doctor

His Character Seemed To Prefigure Reality

Wag the Dog sees De Niro play a role that's virtually unique in his 50-year career in Hollywood, as a political spin doctor hired to hide a sexual indiscretion committed by the President of the United States in the Oval Office. De Niro's charge Conrad Brean enlists the help of Hollywood producer, Stanley Motss, played by Hoffman, to stage a fake war in the Balkans, which can distract the country from the sex crime the president has allegedly committed.

"War is showbusiness." - Robert De Niro as Conrad Brean in Wag the Dog

De Niro and Hoffman have a pointed dynamic and deliver endless razor-sharp dialogue forming satirical commentary in a movie that movies lightning fast. De Niro's most notable line in the movie, "War is showbusiness," is just one example. Furthermore, political commentators in the late 1990s were astonished at how accurately the movie appeared to predict subsequent events in American history. Both the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal and the United States' intervention in the Kosovo War took place after the release of Wag the Dog, and cemented the film's place as one of the most far-sighted political comedies in history, if nothing else.

In Zero Day De Niro Will Play A Former President Investigating The Truth

He'll Be Hunting Down The Perpetrators Of A Cyberattack Which Spread Conspiracy Theories

Robert De Niro as former President Mullen looking stoic in Zero Day — Netflix

De Niro's role in his Netflix show Zero Day, by contrast, will see him on the other side of attempts to manipulate the public narrative. Although he plays the fictional former American president, George Mullen, this time, he's on the right side of the truth. Rather than trying to cover up his own indiscretion, Mullen is tasked with heading a committee in search of the perpetrators behind a cyberattack that has killed thousands and endangered the entire country.

The series will apparently address the theme of conspiracy theories, with De Niro's President Mullen himself the victim of lies being spread to disrupt his investigation and threaten the preexisting social order. Zero Day won't have Wag the Dog's satirical edge, but it will have De Niro's most anticipated performance in years. De Niro has also overseen the making of the series as executive producer. Given his record of co-producing crime classics like When They See Us and The Irishman in recent years, the stage is set for one of Netflix's most exciting new releases.