Abraham Lincoln, arguably American's greatest president, is played by British method actor Daniel Day-Lewis in Steven Spielberg's new film, set to arrive in theatres in early November.

I see that they have eminent historian Doris Kearns Goodwin helping with the script, which should insure that it is done properly.   

(I have read Mrs. Goodwin's book, No Ordinary Time, about the U.S. homefront in WWII, and found it not just excellent, but engaging and highly interesting.) 

www.imdb.com/title/tt0443272/

www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/10/lincol...

If you take a look at the photos in the link, Mr. Day-Lewis does have a distinct resemblance to Mr. Lincoln.  But the fact that he's not an American might be off-putting for some Americans.  On the other hand, British actors do American accents very well.  And they've got Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln.  Now, that should be interesting. 

It's amazing how many actors have played Lincoln:

www.examiner.com/article/actors-who-have...  

As a long time admirer of Mr. Lincoln, I look forward to seeing this film. 

Sep 10, 2012 -- 7:07PM, solfeggio wrote:

Abraham Lincoln, arguably American's greatest president, is played by British method actor Daniel Day-Lewis in Steven Spielberg's new film, set to arrive in theatres in early November.

I see that they have eminent historian Doris Kearns Goodwin helping with the script, which should insure that it is done properly.   

(I have read Mrs. Goodwin's book, No Ordinary Time, about the U.S. homefront in WWII, and found it not just excellent, but engaging and highly interesting.) 

www.imdb.com/title/tt0443272/

www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/10/lincol...

If you take a look at the photos in the link, Mr. Day-Lewis does have a distinct resemblance to Mr. Lincoln.  But the fact that he's not an American might be off-putting for some Americans.  On the other hand, British actors do American accents very well.  And they've got Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln.  Now, that should be interesting. 

It's amazing how many actors have played Lincoln:

www.examiner.com/article/actors-who-have...  

As a long time admirer of Mr. Lincoln, I look forward to seeing this film. 

I admire Lincoln, but I admire Washington, Jefferson, FDR and Clinton. President Clinton kept us out of ground wars. And I find that Obama has done well in almost impossible circumstances.

I look forward to the movie. 

It's not unusual for actors to play either an historical or fictional figure of a different nationality.

Aren't Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale -- who played American comic book heros Wolverine and Batman -- both Aussies?

Solfeggio:

Thanks for the info.

I don't think many Americans would be upset about a "foreigner"   playing Lincoln. There have been a lot of interpretations of Lincoln, so many that just about everyone can find a favorite.

 

As for using Doris Kearns Goodwin as advisor. Yes she is an excellent historian.

I've read just about everything she's written over her long career and have seen/read many of her interviews.

She's a fine historian.

BUT--

the way moviemaking works there's a huge chance that her input re historical facts will be set aside in favor of "the requirements of drama" etc.

Unfortunately it happens all the time in Hollywood and in filmmaking in general.

 

It has nothing to do with you but Bill has never been very careful with facts so I'm not going to waste time trying to figure out what's true in in his book versus what isn't.

I'm glad you enjoyed the book and I don't mean that in a snarky way.