Hulu’s Good American Family is moving on from the curious case of Natalia Grace and tackling another notorious story ripped from the headlines. Isabela Merced (The Last of Us) and Patrick Schwarzenegger (The White Lotus) have been cast as Lorena and John Bobbitt in the second installment of the true crime anthology series.
Deadline broke the casting news, reporting that the upcoming season will focus on the Virginia couple whose relationship became an international media sensation in 1993. The new installment will come from the same creative team and studio behind the first season.
The Bobbitt story centers on an infamous incident in which Lorena cut off her husband John’s penis with a kitchen knife following an argument at their home. Lorena later said that the act came after years of abuse during their marriage. The case became a tabloid phenomenon, generating a media circus, endless jokes, and heated arguments about domestic violence and the way the public responds to stories of abuse.
The story has already been revisited in other productions, including the 2019 Amazon documentary series Lorena, produced by Jordan Peele, and the 2020 Lifetime television movie I Was Lorena Bobbitt. Now Good American Family will offer its own dramatic interpretation. According to Deadline, the new season will explore a story that turned trauma into entertainment, launched a thousand crude jokes, and ignited a gender war.
Isabela Merced and Patrick Schwarzenegger Lead Good American Family Season 2
Merced is perhaps best known for playing Dina in HBO’s The Last of Us and Hawkgirl in James Gunn’s Superman. Her other credits include Alien: Romulus and Turtles All the Way Down. She will take on the role of Lorena Bobbitt.
Schwarzenegger, who plays John Bobbitt, broke out with his performance as Saxon Ratliff in the third season of The White Lotus. He has also appeared in projects like Gen V and The Staircase.
Katie Robbins, who created the series, returns as creator, writer, and executive producer. Ellen Pompeo, who starred as Kristine Barnett in Season 1, will executive produce alongside Robbins and the returning creative team.
Good American Family Season 1 Found a Huge Audience
The first season of Good American Family debuted in March 2025, with Ellen Pompeo and Mark Duplass playing Michael and Kristine Barnett, the adoptive parents of Natalia Grace. Imogen Faith Reid played Natalia, whose age and background became the center of a deeply disturbing and highly publicized family dispute.
The eight-episode season presented the story from multiple perspectives, exploring the conflicting accounts surrounding Natalia and the Barnetts.
JoBlo’s Alex Maidy reviewed the first season, giving it a 5/10 and describing it as a shocking true story transformed into a bland drama series. You can read his full Good American Family TV review here.
Despite the mixed critical response, the show found a substantial audience. Deadline reports that the first season accumulated more than 140 million hours streamed globally on Hulu and Disney+, with its finale becoming the biggest of 2025 across those platforms.
No premiere date has been announced for the new season. For now, the biggest news is that Merced and Schwarzenegger are taking on the central roles in the anthology’s next chapter.
Are you interested in seeing Good American Family tackle the Lorena and John Bobbitt story? Let us know in the comments.
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