'Dopesick' Creator Danny Strong on Richard Sackler's Reputation as 'Greedy American Hitler'

The story of one of America's most reviled families, the Sacklers, is coming to the small screen in Dopesick. But its creator, Danny Strong, believes he portrayed billionaire Richard Sackler in a "nuanced" way and not just as the "greedy American Hitler" that he's perceived to be by "millions of people in the United States."

Strong wrote the Hulu script which is about the Opioid addiction crisis America faced after the production and roll out of Oxycontin by Purdue Pharma. It shows the story on all levels—from the doctors prescribing the drugs to the patients becoming addicted, and from the salespeople pushing them, to the executive decisions made at the top by the Sackler family.

Dopesick is available to watch weekly on Hulu in the US and will become available to watch on Disney+ in the UK on Friday November 12.

"I think my personal opinion on Richard Sackler is how I chose to write him for the show," Strong tells Newsweek. "It was a very nuanced sort of deep dive portrayal, trying to get to the essence of what makes him tick."

In Dopesick, Sackler is played by Michael Stuhlbarg with a calm demeanor but a determination to succeed within the Sackler family business of Purdue Pharma.

"Most people view him as you know, a sort of greedy American Hitler. I mean, that's literally how he's perceived by millions of people in the United States and I thought there had to be more than that," Strong said, explaining why he wrote Sackler's character the way he did.

We see how Oxycontin's rollout affected patients (played by Kaitlyn Dever), the doctors (played by Michael Keaton) and the salesmen (played by Will Poulter). With such wide-ranging repercussions, Strong wanted to do a deep-dive into the man alleged to have caused all of this. "What was really motivating him in the the marketing practices of Oxycontin that were so pathologically dishonest and deceptive?" Strong pondered. "So much so that the company pled guilty to criminal misbranding. So what led him to do that?

"Was it money? Well, he's already rich, he's from a very, very wealthy family from before Oxycontin ever existed. So that was that was one of the major challenges of the piece," Strong said.

While many viewers may have some awareness of the Opioid crisis in America, even Michael Keaton, an actor and executive producer in Dopesick, told Strong the story seemed a little far-fetched. "My response was, 'Oh, no, that's exactly what happened.' And it would be really surprising to him, but it's a truly shocking story, which is why it ended up being an eight-part Hulu limited series.

"It's that shocking that this happened, that this one company, micromanaged by one family would create this product and marketed in a way that was fundamentally dishonest, that they said a highly addictive narcotic is actually non-addictive, and that they would keep selling it as aggressively as they could, in the most brazenly deceptive ways possible," Strong said.

"The deception and the dishonesty is something out of a Bond movie—the villainy of what they did. So at times it does feel it does feel really broad and kind of almost absurdist, and then it ends up that it's all true."

Keaton is one of the leads in Dopesick playing Dr. Samuel Finnix, and viewers watch the addiction escalate through his eyes. The show's creator Strong admits he didn't expect to get his first choice in Keaton.

"I was stunned and thrilled that he said yes, he was the first person we offered any role to. I didn't think he would do it just because he hadn't done television in 13 or 14 years."

Academy Award-winning director Barry Levinson directed the first two episodes of Dopesick, which was a life goal accomplished for Strong. "We were attached at the hip for five or six months in Virginia and it was one of the most amazing career experiences for me to work so closely with a true master."

Even at the age of 78-years-old, Levinson (Rain Man) isn't showing any signs of slowing down too. Strong said: "I just saw his most recent movie, and it's amazing he made it in 35 days. So here we have a guy who can still throw 95 miles-per-hour fast balls, and he's a legend, so it was pretty thrilling he said yes."

Dopesick airs on Hulu with new episodes dropping every Wednesday.

UK viewers can watch Dopesick for the first time as it launches on Disney+ on Friday 12 November.

Article updated on 11/09/2021 to update UK release date on Disney+.