Lincoln Look-See
Posted Wed, 06/29/11
I don't normally get too excited about upcoming movies, except for Dark Shadows. Even so, when the movie finally comes out it's doubtful I'll go to the movie theatre to see it. I'm more of a DVD-type film watcher.
This morning I was reading the June 29th edition of Shelf Awareness with my first cup of coffee, when the following bit of news got my attention:
DreamWorks announced that David Strathairn will play Secretary of State William Seward in Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, adapted from "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin, Deadline.Com reported. Strathairn joins a cast that includes Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln and Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln. The film will begin production this fall in Virginia for a late 2012 release. Tony Kushner wrote the script.
I read Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin last year. The book is a biography about Abraham Lincoln and members of his cabinet from 1861 to 1865, focusing on personality conflicts within and Lincoln's efforts to make peace. The book was also compared to the way President Obama formed his own cabinet in 2009.
Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln? Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln? And now David Strathairn as Secretary Seward? How can the cast get any better?
I first noticed David Strathairn in Dolores Claiborne (1995). He is perhaps one of the most underrated actors working today, every bit as good as Daniel Day-Lewis.
Both men rank on my top list of favorite actors, which also includes Peter O'Toole, Robert De Niro, John Malkovich, Kathy Bates, Liam Neeson, John Lithgow, Olympia Dukakis, Ritchie Coster, Aidan Quinn, Elias Koteas, Nick Chinlund, Kristoffer Tabori, Michael Sarrazin and Johnny Depp.
I appreciate true acting ability as opposed to "celebrity."
Tags: Books & Reading