You might think that Steven Spielberg had long since gathered all the talent he needs to make Lincoln. But you’d be wrong! He’s just added Jackie Earle Haley to the cast.
Haley, last seen reinventing Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street and now at work on Dark Shadows, has been hired to play Alexander Stephens in Spielberg’s big historical pic. Stephens was vice-president of the Confederate States during the Civil War and a huge opponent of Abraham Lincoln’s plans to abolish slavery.
So fervent was his belief in the idea that he even gave an infamous speech in which he claimed slavery was the natural condition of those caught up in it and the cornerstone of the Confederacy. Charming bloke…
Haley joins an ensemble that already includes Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, David Strathairn, Walton Goggins, James Spader, Lee Pace and John Hawkes.
Working from a script by John Logan and Tony Kushner, Spielberg plans to kick off shooting the movie next month, ready for release in late 2012.