Robert De Niro is taking on his first starring TV series role — and he isn’t starting small. 

Now streaming, Zero Day is created by Eric Newman (Griselda, The Watcher, Narcos, Narcos: Mexico) and Noah Oppenheim (President, NBC News, TODAY, Jackie, The Thing About Pam, The Maze Runner). The thrilling and terrifying limited series follows a beloved and highly respected former United States president (De Niro) as he leads the investigation into a nationwide cyberattack while battling his own personal demons. And yet, “Right now, our actual world is scarier,” De Niro told Netflix.

“Zero Day is about the aftermath of a devastating cyberattack that kills thousands of people and threatens to push a nation already on the precipice over the edge,” Newman told Netflix.

Oppenheim added, “The show also looks at the cost of power for those who are asked to take on these enormous challenges — what it means for them personally, and what it means for their families.” 

In addition to starring in the series, De Niro is also a producer. “[De Niro] very much became our partner in this process — very hands-on, very involved, read everything at every stage, and it’s been an incredible honor and privilege,” said Newman. “You can count on one hand the actors and actresses in history who bring this level of gravitas, pedigree, and talent to their work.”

Here’s everything to know about the conspiracy thriller.

Watch a Sneak Peek of Zero Day

What’s Zero Day about? 

The limited series stars De Niro as respected former President George Mullen, who, as head of the Zero Day Commission, is charged with finding the perpetrators of a devastating cyberattack that caused chaos and thousands of fatalities across the country. Disinformation runs rampant and the personal ambitions of power brokers in technology, Wall Street, and government collide. Mullen’s unwavering search for the truth forces him to confront his own dark secrets while risking all he holds dear.

Zero Day asks the question on everyone’s mind: How do we find truth in a world in crisis, one seemingly torn apart by forces outside our control? And in an era rife with conspiracy theories and subterfuge, how many of those forces are of our own making — maybe even our own imagining? 

De Niro appreciates that Mullen’s ethos is to just tell it straight. “That’s the spine of my character in the show,” said De Niro. “Don’t dodge anything. Don’t play games. Be honest about what’s going on so that the public knows what’s going on.”

Can I watch the Zero Day trailer?

Yes. “Absolute nation-wide terror” rips through the country as it’s hit with widespread technology outages in the trailer at the top of this page. De Niro’s former President Mullen is a key player in the plan to find out who’s behind the attack, but can he figure it out before it happens again?

Who’s in the Zero Day cast?

See the full Zero Day cast and character details here.

• Robert De Niro (The Irishman) is George Mullen, a hugely popular but complicated former US president who’s pulled out of retirement to head the Zero Day Commission, an unprecedented group of experts tasked with investigating a devastating global cyberattack.
• Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) is Evelyn Mitchell, the current US president. Mitchell is a brilliant and perceptive political tactician who hires Mullen to take on an unprecedented role in American history.
• Jesse Plemons (The Power of the Dog, Fargo) is Roger Carlson, George Mullen’s former aide. Roger is now a trusted fixer and an unabashed hustler who’s seeking a return to the national stage alongside Mullen.
• Lizzy Caplan (Fleishman Is in Trouble, Fatal Attraction) is Alexandra Mullen, a young congressional representative from New York who’s worked hard to distance herself from her father’s political legacy and establish herself in her own right.
• Connie Britton (White Lotus, Friday Night Lights) is Valerie Whitesell, a savvy, intelligent political operative and Mullen’s former chief of staff who returns to public life to oversee Mullen’s new role back in the spotlight.
• Joan Allen (The Bourne Ultimatum, The Contender) is Sheila Mullen, former first lady and nominee to the federal bench. Elegant and always poised, Sheila is a supportive and present wife and mother with strong professional ambitions of her own — and she’s nobody’s fool.
• Matthew Modine (Stranger Things, Oppenheimer) is Richard Dreyer, a confident, colorful public figure. As the speaker of the house, he’s an adept politician.
• Bill Camp (The Queen’s Gambit, The Night Of) is CIA director Jeremy Lasch, the ultimate insider who seems to know everyone’s secret. He can either be a dangerous enemy or a valuable friend to Mullen and everyone in his circle.
• Dan Stevens (Gaslit, Beauty and the Beast) is Evan Green, the charismatic, calculating, and divisive host of a wildly popular political TV show who becomes a thorn in George Mullen’s side as his loudest critic and chief public antagonist.
• McKinley Belcher III (We Won This City, Ozark) is Carl Otieno, a tough, brilliant Department of Justice lawyer who serves as the Zero Day Commission’s lead investigator.
• Gaby Hoffmann (Transparent, Girls) is Monica Kidder, a controversial Silicon Valley billionaire whose brilliant vision and technological domination has the power to help or hinder Mullen’s investigation.
• Clark Gregg (Painkiller, Florida Man) is Robert Lyndon, a corporate raider, provocateur, and billionaire who has mastered the dark arts of political manipulation.
• Mark Ivanir (Away, Barry) is Natan, an intelligence operative and Mullen confidant from an era when intelligence — and trust — still mattered.

Watch the Zero Day Teaser

Where can I watch the Zero Day teaser?

See De Niro lead the investigation into the truth behind Zero Day in the teaser above. As Bassett, who plays President Mitchell, tells him in the trailer, “People will believe what they need to believe.” Join the search now.

Can I see some Zero Day photos?

Check out De Niro in action above.

Who’s the creative team behind Zero Day?

De Niro stars in and executive produces Zero Day. This marks the actor’s first time both acting in and executive producing a TV series. Emmy Award winners Newman and Oppenheim wrote and created the series and executive produced along with Pulitzer Prize winner Michael S. Schmidt, who also served as a writer, and Jonathan Glickman. Academy Award nominee Lesli Linka Glatter (Homeland) directed all six episodes of the series and is also an executive producer.  

“As a lifelong fan of American cinema, no actor looms larger for me than Robert De Niro,” said Newman. “To have him as a producing partner and star in this show is beyond our wildest dreams. I’m grateful to Netflix for their continued faith and support and thrilled to be in business with the amazing creative team of Noah, Lesli, and Jonathan on this timely (and terrifying) series.” 

Oppenheim, who described Zero Day as a “ripped-from-reality thriller,” pointed to co-creator and Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Schmidt and “the stories that kept him up at night” as early inspiration for the series. 

What’s the significance of “Who Killed Bambi?” in Zero Day?

Mullen scrawls the words “Who Killed Bambi?” in his journal throughout the series. It’s the title of a song by the Sex Pistols that provides the soundtrack for Mullen’s hallucinations. It has a somber significance — it was playing when he found his son dead from an overdose, which prompted the former president not to seek a second term.

Oppenheim and Newman heard the song in Adam Curtis’ BBC docuseries Can’t Get You Out of My Head — which they watched for Zero Day inspiration — and it remained in their heads while choosing an anthem for Mullen’s reality-bending experiences.

“You wanted a song that would make sense that somebody the age of Mullen's son might've been listening to,” Oppenheim tells Tudum. “And if you listen to the words, it has some applicability to the themes of our show. It's just kind of a creepy, weird, wacky song, so it worked on a lot of levels.”

What’s the Zero Day release date?

Zero Day is now streaming on Netflix. Remember, trust no one.