Canadian actor Shamier Anderson has been tapped to portray one of the country’s most polarizing sports figures—Ben Johnson—in the upcoming limited series Hate the Player: The Ben Johnson Story. The six-episode comedy-drama, co-commissioned by Paramount+ Canada and GameTV, begins production this week in Toronto and is set to premiere in early 2026.
Developed by New Metric Media in collaboration with Anderson’s Bay Mills Studios, the satirical series offers what’s being described as a “definitely-not-biased account” of the events leading up to—and following—the infamous doping scandal that rocked the 1988 Olympics. The series will also stream exclusively on Paramount+ in Canada and air linearly on GameTV.
About Ben Johnson
Once hailed as the world’s fastest man, Jamaican-born Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson became a national hero when he won the gold medal in the 100-meter race at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, clocking a world-record time. Just days later, however, Johnson was stripped of his medal after testing positive for anabolic steroids—an incident that remains one of the most high-profile doping scandals in sports history. While publicly disgraced, Johnson’s story has long sparked debate around race, pressure, and the culture of elite sports during the 1980s.
Shamier Anderson’s Personal Connection
“This hits differently,” Anderson said in a statement. “I grew up in Scarborough, where Ben trained, where his name still echoes. He was a hometown legend—yes, complicated—but also someone people rooted for.” In addition to starring in the title role, Anderson also serves as executive producer through his production banner Bay Mills Studios.
Best known for playing Mr. Nobody in John Wick: Chapter 4 and for his work in Apple TV+’s Invasion, Anderson’s rising profile includes recent roles opposite Paul Walter Hauser in The Luckiest Man in America and executive-producing projects that center complex Black Canadian stories.
Series Details
The project is spearheaded by Anthony Q. Farrell, the BAFTA-winning and Emmy-nominated writer whose credits include The Office, Run the Burbs, and The Parker Andersons. According to Farrell, the show aims to “tell the story the world thought it knew—but from a slanted lens,” diving into the media frenzy and larger cultural implications surrounding Johnson’s downfall.
New Metric Media’s CEO Mark Montefiore shared, “From the outset, we knew two things: one, people knew what Ben Johnson did to the world, but not what the world did to Ben Johnson. And two, if we were lucky enough to tell this story, Shamier Anderson had to play Ben. Full stop.”
The series is being produced with the participation of Ben Johnson himself and is inspired by research from veteran Canadian journalist and author Mary Ormsby. Filming kicks off at Dark Slope Studios in Toronto.
International Distribution
While Hate the Player is being developed for Canadian platforms, international rights are being handled by New Metric Media, with further announcements on global distribution expected closer to its premiere.