Reply With QuoteThis is the only link to the subject I could find on The Independent website, as the pages change daily:
Daniel Day-Lewis cast as Spielberg's Abraham Lincoln - Films, Arts & Entertainment - The Independent
The Independent
published 21/11/10:
'Abraham Lincoln is an Englishman, decides Spielberg'
Steven Spielberg is expected to cause controversy in the US with his choice, announced this weekend, of Daniel Day-Lewis to play Abraham Lincoln in a biopic of one of America's best-loved leaders.
In taking the role of the 16th President of the United States, Day-Lewis becomes the latest in a string of Britons who have elbowed past their American counterparts to take plumb presidential roles. Anthony Hopkins has played two White House incumbents: John Quincy Adams in AMISTAD (1997) and Richard Nixon in the 1995 biopic NIXON.
Michael Gambon has also had a go as leader of the free world, playing Lyndon B. Johnson in PATH TO WAR (2002), and Kenneth Branagh was Franklyn D. Roosevelt in the 2005 HBO movie WARM SPRINGS.....
This is the only link to the subject I could find on The Independent website, as the pages change daily:
Daniel Day-Lewis cast as Spielberg's Abraham Lincoln - Films, Arts & Entertainment - The Independent
Liam Neeson had been linked with this for years...
Another non-story.Originally Posted by Maurice
Which actor gave the most iconic portrayal of Abe Lincoln, on film and on stage?
Raymond Massey - A Canadian
Steve
Day-Lewis is good casting though. Better that Liam Neeson from a physical perspective, at the very least.
Anyway, an American play George Bush Jnr and Snr in W and loads of Americans have played Kennedys (all of 'em) in various things, so I agree with Steve that it's a bit of a non-story.
Frank Windsor playing George Washington in a big budget film with Al Pacino always struck me as an unusual pairing....I mean good for Frank, he is a good actor! Day Lewis is possibly a good choice for Lincoln, he certainly won't have to transform himself too much physically.
It's a fair deal - we've had many US actresses, in particular, playing English lead roles in our films over the last twenty years, presumably because producers feel our actors aren't big box office draws, or glamorous enough. Gwyneth Paltrow was one of our leading stars for years!
I think this is the right link:
Abraham Lincoln is not an American, decides Spielberg - News, Films - The Independent
Oddly enough, just about every second actor on American prime time telly is British or Australian. Maybe it balances out somewhere....
Alexander Knox was Canadian and played Woodriw Wlison. The very British George Arliss played Alexander Hamilton.
Linus Roache played RFK in a telemovie (not a President but close).
James Cromwell played Prince Phillip in The Queen.
Sir Winston Churchill could be played, with confidence, by a US actor. His mother was American:
JENNIE, LADY RANDOLPH CHURCHILL (Thames TV, 1974) 7x60min eps
DVD �12.93p amazon.co.uk
American John Houseman played Churchill (badly) in Truman at Potsdam.
Last edited by will.15; 23-11-10 at 06:32 PM.
Does anyone actually care what the nationality of an actor playing a historical figure is? Obviously you wouldn't want Anthony Hopkins blacking up to play Martin Luther King but is there any genuine controversy (as opposed to fake media controversy) when he plays a US president? Was there rioting in the streets of Portsmouth when they heard Conrad Veidt was going to play Nelson, or in Ekaterinburg when they saw his Rasputin?
Only the Daily Wail
Steve
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