Steven Spielberg has been talking about doing an Abraham Lincoln biopic for years now, so it’s great that he’s finally gearing up to tackle the project with the already announced Daniel Day-Lewis as the man himself and Sally Field as Lincoln’s wife, Mary Todd.
In a press release from DreamWorks and Spielberg, more names were finally announced as “in negotiation” for the film: Tommy Lee Jones, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Hal Holbrook (who actually played Lincoln in 1976!), James Spader, John Hawkes, Tim Blake Nelson, Bruce McGill, Joseph Cross, David Costabile, Byron Jennings, Dakin Matthews, Boris McGiver, Gloria Reuben, Jeremy Strong, and David Warshofsky. That’s quite a (potential) cast!
Only a few of the names were actually connected to key roles in the press release, however. Tommy Lee Jones will be Thaddeus Stevens, a key Congressional leader who was an important figure in securing funding for the Civil War (he was also known to be quite the character, so Jones is a great choice). Meanwhile, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been picked to fill the shoes of Lincoln’s eldest son, Robert Todd Lincoln, who served in the army in the final months of the Civil War (Mary Todd did not want him to serve, which prevented him joining earlier).
The other roles are anyone’s guess right now, but with a huge range of important political and military figures that this film will undoubtedly cover, so we’ll bring you more info on casting as we get it.
Lincoln will be based on the book Team of Rivals by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. The book was adapted by Tony Kushner, who previously worked with Spielberg on Munich.
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