Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney in 'John Adams.' Kent Eanes/HBO/Courtesy Everett Collection Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Though not especially publicized, Ken Burns' PBS documentaries feature some of the most star-studded voiceover casts of any piece of content. The American Revolution is no exception. To spare viewers the sleeplessness that may come with trying to figure out just who is the familiar voice behind that traitorous Benedict Arnold (it's Michael Keaton), The Hollywood Reporter has published a full-on cast list, which you can find below. Some personal faves: Josh Brolin as George Washington (but really just sounding like Josh Brolin), Jeff Daniels as Thomas Jefferson, and the voice of Hard Knocks Liev Schreiber as the beer guy Samuel Adams (and two other dudes). Related Stories TV Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys on the Liberation in 'The Beast in Me' Finale and Possible Second Season TV 'The American Revolution': How to Watch the Documentary Miniseries Online Without Cable for Free The American Revolution is a six-part, 12-hour documentary series that (deeply, at that runtime) "explores the country's founding struggle and its eight-year War for Independence," per its logline. The series premiered Sunday, and has aired half of its installments. (All of the episodes are already available to stream on PBS.org and the PBS app.) The American Revolution rolls on tonight, Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 8 p.m. ET on PBS; Part 5 follows on Thursday in the same time slot, and the series wraps up on Friday. Watch it - you might learn something. Also, The American Revolution, like pretty much all of Burns' work, is of high quality. It'd better be: The American Revolution took Burns and his collaborators nine years to make. (Yes, one year longer than the actual war took.) In his review for THR, lead TV critic Daniel Fienberg wrote The American Revolution is "smart, thorough [and] sincere in intent," though at times "a bit dry and a little languid." A dozen hours will do that. A few more things from the documentary's star-studded call sheet stand out. For one, look how many different voices actors like Kenneth Branagh, Hugh Dancy and Tom Hanks had to do! Second, how cool is it that Paul Giamatti reprised his titular role from HBO's John Adams? And maybe how weird is it that Laura Linney is among The American Revolution cast, but not as Adams' wife, Abigail Adams, whom she portrayed in the 2008 HBO miniseries? Abigail's in The American Revolution, but this time she's voiced by Claire Danes. Burns' co-directors on the project, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt, answered those queries - sort of - in a Wednesday Reddit AMA. "We are so incredibly lucky to have worked with this cast. Paul Giamatti has been a voice for us on several projects, and in the Benjamin Franklin film that Ken and David made, he reprised his role as John Adams, so we felt as though that would be fun for him to do that again," Botstein said. "Claire Danes totally blew our minds when we recorded her reading Abigail, and it was a terrific treat to have Laura Linney read several different characters, including Sarah Fisher and Sarah Mifflin." The Death of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton, Jan. 3, 1777; By: John Trumbull; ca. 1789-1831. Alamy Stock Photo The full cast breakdown is below, in alphabetical order: Adam Arkin: James Parker, Ashbel Green, Andrew Hunter, Samuel Shaw, Enoch Anderson, Timothy Dwight and Robert MorrisTony Beck: Ludwig von ClosenLeon Dische Becker: Johann Friedrich von Bardeleben and Johann Conrad DoehlaJeremiah Bitsui: Twethorechte and Stockbridge PetitionersCorbin Bleu: John Joseph Henry, Daniel McCurtin, Nathaniel Bacheller and Isaac JeffersonKenneth Branagh: Thomas Gage, Henry Clinton, Joseph Reed, Samuel Graves, Samuel Johnson, Charles Lee, Friedrich Adolf Riedesel and UnidentifiedJosh Brolin: George WashingtonBill Camp: Jabez FitchTantoo Cardinal: Mary Jemison and the delegation of Cherokee WomenJosh Charles: John Peters, Joseph Warren and David RamsayMartin Czembor: Georg Daniel FlohrHugh Dancy: John Burgoyne, Hugh Percy, The Gentleman's Magazine, London Morning Post, Banastre Tarleton, Charles Gravier de Vergennes and UnidentifiedClaire Danes: Abigail AdamsJeff Daniels: Thomas JeffersonKeith David: Theodore RoneynHope Davis: Elizabeth DrinkerMarcus Davis-Orrom: John Barker and William BamfordBruce Davison: John P. Becker, Charles Inglis and Samuel WebbAlden Ehrenreich: Joseph Plumb Martin (and Town Meeting of Lebanon, Connecticut)Craig Ferguson: Lord North, Lord Dunmore John Paul Jones, Scotus Americanus, John Purrier, Martin Hunter and William HarcourtMorgan Freeman: James FortenChristian Friedel: Johann Ewald (and Friedrich von Münchausen)Paul Giamatti: John AdamsDomhnall Gleeson: Roger Lamb, Loftus Cliffe, John MacPher