Netflix Renews The Beast in Me for Season 2 With Claire Danes

Netflix has renewed The Beast in Me for a second season, with Claire Danes set to return as acclaimed author Aggie Wiggs and continue as an executive producer. The renewal also brings back Howard Gordon and Daniel Pearle, while Gordon has signed a new overall deal with Netflix through his Teakwood Lane Productions banner.

Deadline, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter reported the renewal, which turns a project that began as a limited series into a second-season drama. Development on Season 2 is already well underway, with casting for new leads alongside Danes in advanced stages.

The Beast in Me Season 2 key facts

Field	Detail
Renewal	Netflix has ordered Season 2
Returning lead	Claire Danes as Aggie Wiggs
Showrunners	Howard Gordon and Daniel Pearle
Studio	20th Television
Season 1 performance	43 million views in its first seven weeks
Season 1 awards	Nine Emmy nominations and two wins

Danes will reprise the Emmy-nominated role at the center of the series. Gordon, who served as showrunner on the first season, will share co-showrunner duties with Pearle for the second. Gordon previously elevated Pearle to co-showrunner for Season 2 of his Fox series Accused.

Claire Danes returns as Aggie Wiggs

Season 1 followed Aggie, a celebrated author grieving the death of her young son, as she became drawn into a cat-and-mouse game with her new neighbor Nile Sheldon, played by Matthew Rhys. Sheldon was both charming and frightening, and he was the prime suspect in the disappearance of his first wife.

The first season closed with Sheldon murdered in prison. Aggie took responsibility for her own actions and published her book, The Beast in Me. That ending left Danes' character in place for another chapter, and Gordon had already suggested that continuation was possible when Deadline interviewed him at the show's launch last November.

"It was meant to be a limited series. It certainly is possible, because whoever is left standing at the end of this is still around, and I think if there's a story, we'd be up for it. I do think that there's certainly room for another chapter," Gordon said at the time.

Howard Gordon and Daniel Pearle will co-showrun Season 2

Gordon and Pearle, both writers and executive producers on Season 1, are returning. Gordon said the creative team would only continue if it found a story that justified another season.

"We always told ourselves we'd only do a second season of The Beast in Me if we found a story that was worthy of the first - and I'm thrilled to say we found it. We loved making this show and our audience seemed to love watching it, so we're enormously grateful to Jinny Howe and Netflix, and to Karey Burke and 20th Television for giving us the chance to get the band back together and do it again," Gordon said in the renewal announcement.

According to Deadline, development on the new season is well underway. Casting for the new leads who will appear alongside Danes has reached advanced stages.

Howard Gordon signs an overall deal with Netflix

The renewal comes with a broader business move for Gordon. Variety and The Hollywood Reporter said he has signed an overall deal with Netflix to develop new series exclusively for the streamer through his Teakwood Lane Productions banner.

The Beast in Me itself remains an outside-studio production from 20th Television. Gordon and Danes had deals at the studio stemming from their shared tenure on Homeland, while Gordon's relationship there also reaches back to 24.

Netflix Head of Scripted Series Jinny Howe said, "We are thrilled to bring back The Beast in Me and to welcome Howard Gordon to the Netflix family with this creative partnership. The series captivated global audiences, delivered extraordinary performances led by Claire Danes, and earned Matthew Rhys a historic Emmy win. We are incredibly proud of what Howard Gordon, Gabe Rotter, and the entire cast and crew achieved. We can't wait for audiences to see what Howard and Daniel Pearle have in store for the next season."

Season 1 drew 43 million views and earned nine Emmy nominations

The Beast in Me debuted at No. 1 in the Netflix Global Top 10 shows, reached the top 10 in 88 countries and drew 43 million views in its first seven weeks. Because the renewal was not confirmed during its awards run, the first season competed as a limited series.

At the Emmys, the show received nine nominations, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, Lead Actress for Danes and Lead Actor for Rhys. It won two awards: Lead Actor and Original Dramatic Score.

Rhys' victory also set two records. He became the first performer to win two lead acting categories in the same year after also winning Lead Comedy Actor for Apple TV's Widow's Bay. He also became the first performer to complete a career sweep of all three lead acting categories, having previously won Lead Drama Actor for FX's The Americans.

Who is returning behind The Beast in Me Season 2

• Claire Danes returns as Aggie Wiggs and executive produces.
• Howard Gordon and Daniel Pearle return as writers, executive producers and co-showrunners.
• Series creator Gabe Rotter returns as an executive producer.
• Antonio Campos, Caroline Baron, Amy Lippman, Conan O'Brien, David Kissinger, Jeff Ross and Jodie Foster also executive produce.

Campos directed half of the Season 1 episodes. The returning executive producer group keeps much of the first season's senior creative team intact while the series adds new leads around Danes.

The Beast in Me moves from limited series to drama series

Deadline placed the renewal in a wider Netflix pattern of extending successful limited series after their first installments. Untamed continued as a drama series, keeping Eric Bana's lead character but moving him to a new location with a new story. Beef took a different route and became an anthology with an all-new cast.

The Beast in Me will follow its own path by retaining Danes as Aggie while bringing in new leads. The change also affects awards positioning: Season 2 will move into Drama Series contention after Season 1 competed as a limited series. Deadline noted that HBO's Big Little Lies and The White Lotus similarly shifted after their first seasons.

Frequently asked questions

Is The Beast in Me renewed for Season 2?

Yes. Netflix has ordered a second season of The Beast in Me, with Claire Danes returning as author Aggie Wiggs and serving as an executive producer. Howard Gordon and Daniel Pearle are also returning as writers and executive producers, and they will share co-showrunner duties for the new season.

Will Claire Danes return in The Beast in Me Season 2?

Yes. Claire Danes will reprise her Emmy-nominated role as Aggie Wiggs in Season 2 and will continue as an executive producer. Development is already well underway, and casting for new leads who will appear alongside Danes is in advanced stages, according to Deadline.

What happened at the end of The Beast in Me Season 1?

Season 1 ended with Nile Sheldon, played by Matthew Rhys, murdered in prison. Aggie Wiggs then took responsibility for her actions and published her book, The Beast in Me. The first season had centered on the cat-and-mouse relationship between Aggie and Sheldon, the prime suspect in his first wife's disappearance.

What is Howard Gordon's Netflix deal?

Howard Gordon has signed an overall deal with Netflix to develop new series exclusively for the streamer through his Teakwood Lane Productions banner. The Beast in Me itself comes from outside studio 20th Television, where Gordon and Claire Danes had deals stemming from Homeland, with Gordon's relationship also reaching back to 24.