I’LL FLY AWAY (1991-1993)

There’s a certain audience still nostalgic for this beloved (albeit short-lived) drama set in a Southern town in the 1950s and 60s. Waterston played a district attorney and dad who gleaned a unique view on race relations thanks to his housekeeper (Regina Taylor).

THE NEWSROOM (2012-14)

Waterston took a supporting role as a bow tie-wearing network honcho in this Aaron Sorkin-created HBO drama with Jeff Daniels and Emily Mortimer. (Fun fact: his daughter, Katherine, later worked with Sorkin on the film Steve Jobs.)

GRACE AND FRANKIE (2015-22)

“It was good fun from beginning to end,” Waterston says of his time on this breezy Netflix comedy. He and Martin Sheen played friends-turned-lovers— and the jovial exes of the titular characters (Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin).

Of course, his Sol character was a lawyer as well.

THE DROPOUT (2022)

This buzzy based-on-fact Hulu limited series charted the ups and downfall of Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes (Amanda Seyfried). Waterston’s George Shultz was an early investor in the fraudulent business in his 90s. “I think he felt like it was a late opportunity to make a difference in the world,” Waterston explains.