Fan CastingHayward

In an era where Hollywood’s leading ladies were expected to play by the rules, Susan Hayward stood apart: scrappy, ambitious, and brimming with raw talent. Hayward is a limited series that tells her extraordinary life story — one of a woman who clawed her way from the slums of Brooklyn into Hollywood stardom but was never content to sit in anyone’s shadow. Starting in the 1940s, when a young Edythe Marrenner entered the industry with fire in her belly and no safety net, we trace her relentless path through Hollywood’s Golden Age, showcasing her meteoric rise and grit in an unforgiving industry. But behind the glamour and Oscars, Hayward peels back the glittering facade to reveal a woman dogged by loss, addiction, and a relentless battle with cancer that came to define her later years. This series captures Hayward's incredible professional and personal transformation, from her intense drive to succeed to her battles with studio moguls, her stormy marriages, and the final years of her life. Through each episode, Hayward reflects on the impact of her roles in I’ll Cry Tomorrow and I Want to Live!, films that won her acclaim but also brought her face-to-face with the darkness she feared. With her fierce wit, scorching honesty, and unapologetic drive, she became a symbol of survival — a fitting role for the "toughest broad in Hollywood."