Jared Harris is going to be playing Ulysses S. Grant in Spielberg’s Lincoln, according to Empire. I’m not really familiar with Harris. Apparently he’s in Mad Men, a show I’ve never watched.
I’ve always said that if somebody put me in charge of casting a Civil War movie and gave me an unlimited budget, I’d want Russell Crowe to play Grant. He’s a dead ringer.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division (LC-B813- 6371B)
If you’re going to cast an A-list actor like Crowe, though, it would probably be in a starring role, meaning you’d need some Grant-centric subject matter. So who’s up for a Shiloh movie?
The picture here is a good match for Grant, obviously without the beard.
I’m glad to see Bruce McGill cast as Stanton. No doubt his turn as a scheming, dirty-tricks, behind-the-scenes political operative in HBO’s Recount helped cinch that role for him.
And he’s a Texan, of course. Could Stanton ever do this? I don’t damn think so.
That is a very Grant-esque pose. He’d make a pretty good Sherman, too, now that I look at him.
–ML
Even better Sherman.
But I’m still holding out for Tom Cruise as Little Mac.
I’ve said for some time that I think Russell Crowe would be great as Grant! But, think of all the story lines possible if the movie is about Vicksburg.
Vicksburg might make a good mini-series–you could weave in the stories of some of the town’s civlians during the siege.
–ML