First look at Brendan Gleeson as Donald Trump in new James Comey mini-series

US network Showtime has unveiled its first look at Irish actor Brendan Gleeson as Donald Trump in forthcoming mini-series The Comey Rule.

The star of In Bruges and Paddington 2 is an absolute dead ringer for the US president, seen in profile with his disputed-sized inauguration crowd providing the backdrop.

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Based on former FBI director James Comey's memoir A Higher Loyalty, it will find Jeff Daniels playing Comey over two, two-hour episodes.

The first part will explore the early part of the FBI's investigation into the Russian interference in the 2016 US election, which saw defy the polls and Trump beat Hillary Clinton to the presidency.

It will also look at the Clinton emails case, the re-opening of which so close to the election saw Comey come under heavy political fire.

The second part will look into the first weeks and months of the Trump presidency, and the volatile relationship between Trump and Comey.

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A host of stars will join Gleeson and Daniels in playing key political figures central to the Russia investigation.

Holly Hunter plays fired Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, Michael Kelly is former FBI Director Andrew McCabe, Jennifer Ehle plays Comey's wife Patrice Comey, Scoot McNairy as former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Jonathan Banks as former National Intelligence Director James Clapper.

British star Oona Chaplin, meanwhile, plays former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, with Steven Pasquale as former FBI agent Peter Strzok, the counter-espionage chief who worked on Robert Mueller's special counsel investigation into Russian election interference.

Page and Strzok, who were having an affair, were thrust into the headlines and caught up in the maelstrom of Trump's fury when it emerged they'd exchanged private text messages calling the president 'an idiot', leading to complaints that political bias was involved in the Mueller investigation.

Meanwhile Amy Seimetz plays former FBI lawyer Trisha Anderson, Peter Coyote is Mueller and Kingsley Ben-Adir plays outgoing President Barack Obama.

It's set to air in late November in the US.