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Elizabeth Banks Cast as Laura Bush in Oliver Stone's Biopic?!

by Alex Billington
March 26, 2008
Source: Hollywood Reporter

This definitely falls into the category of "are you kidding me?!" After originally casting Josh Brolin as George W. Bush in his biopic, Nixon director Oliver Stone has officially just added the charming Elizabeth Banks to his cast as First Lady Laura Bush. Titled just W., the film chronicles the life and presidency of George W. Bush with a screenplay written by Stone and Stanley Weiser (of Wall Street). Is it just me or are they really trying to glamourize the Bush family by casting these two rather impeccable actors that, really, don't even look in the slightest like the real-life people they're supposed to portray.

The film begins shooting in late April in Louisiana, which we predicted previously might mean that they're trying to push it into theaters by the election in November. Although Stone isn't the biggest George W. Bush supporter, his goal is not to create a biased film, but rather use seminal events in Bush's life to explain how he came to power. The structure will be similar to The Queen, a biopic from 2006 on Queen Elizabeth II. "People have turned my political ideas into a cliche, but that is superficial. I'm a dramatist who is interested in people, and I have empathy for Bush as a human being..."

For some reason I just can't grasp my head around this project. Maybe it's because I'm not that big of a Bush fan myself, but political opinion isn't important here. I just can't see people like Brolin and Banks taking on roles to portray such prominent political members that are literally twice their age. Banks is 34, Bush is 61. Is there any solid reasoning to this idea? Or are we just looking at a big mess of a biopic from the mind of Oliver Stone?

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Related categories: Casting, Discussion, Movie News, Opinions

REAL6

Like anyone gives a ish about this movie!! COME ON.... Laura Bush straight up looks like a Reptilian in that photo!!!!
Andy

So Josh Brolin and Elizabeth Banks don't look like the Bushes. When has Oliver Stone EVER cared about accuracy? The entire plotline and assassination scenario in JFK, while supposedly based on real events, was completely fabricated to fit his own agenda. Why should this be any difference? And appearance is also hardly an indicator of the quality of a biopic. Gary Busey looked nothing like Buddy Holly, but The Buddy Holly story was still a good movie.
Scorpio

I wanna see a movie about how Bush got the Presidency, and became nothing more than a puppet for a greedy Governmental hierarchy, and hired all oil company CEO's to help, or maybe how the Bin Laden family invested in the Bush family oil business, or how Bush's daddy bought him a baseball team, maybe even about his alcohol & cocaine abuse, or even about his time in the National Guard, and mayb even how Jeb had dead people voting in Florida, and even about the occupation, I mean war in Iraq, .... It's all true and it could go on and on.
Scorpio

I think Laura is a Sleestak
Chris

Stay on topic, Scorpio. This isn't a soap box to stand on so you can hold a political rally. We're talking about casting here. My opinion on the casting is that this isn't going to be a biopic really of Bush TODAY, but rather how he got his political start. Obviously if you're going to talk about his past, you're going to need someone younger to play him. You wouldn't do a biopic on Fidel Castro with a shriveled ghoul of an actor. You get someone to play the younger Castro. I don't think it's really something to "glamorize" the president, simply because Oliver Stone would NEVER EVER be one to glamorize Bush. Not in a million years. So there must be some other reason why Stone chose these people, perhaps they simply fit the part of a younger Bush couple.
http://cad.cx Colin Dean

I would rather see a biopic about Millard Fillmore than Dubya.
Scorpio

hahaha Sorry I think it's just a pointless film, is it really needed? And I think my ideas would make it much more entertaining. On a casting note, it just doesn't feel right,..Josh Brolin as Dubya? eehh I don't know about that one. They say the story is of how George came into power, come on you think they'll tell the truth?
cornholio_by_the_sea

I find the entire idea of it offensive...I mean, did anybody want to see a movie about Hitler at the time he was actually in power and "doing his thing"??? this is total BULLSHIT...I guess there is no end to the list of people this asshole has in his pocket...but then again, enough $$$ will buy pretty anything....because Dubya has bought the entire United States, hasnt he??? I think I will go vomit now....
Chris

Scorpio, I completely agree with you that this is kind of pointless. But if you're worried that anything will be held back, those fears should have been averted when you saw that Oliver Stone is directing. Nothing is being held back, in fact I think he'll add a lot of things into the movie that may not necessarily be true.
Squiggly_P

Well, assuming that this film is indeed about their 'rise' to power, then I'd say that the makeup effects would look better to age a young set of actors than try to make glenn close and harvey keitel (just names, sorry they also happen to be decent actors) look like their 30 or 40. Stone ... I dunno. I have never really liked his political / bio films. They are interesting, but they are almost always inaccurate as hell. However, I don't think Stone is particularly fond of the president at all, given some of the quotes I've seen associated with him. If nothing else, I think it might be fun to have a film so blatantly bash the president personally. Politically, I'd like to see it hold off on release until after the transition to the next president takes place, but I really don't know how much more damage a film bashing bush and re republicans can do after they've done such a bang-up job of destroying their own party themselves. But on the other hand, how much more political douchebaggery do we really need in this country?
Squiggly_P

@cornholio: Actually one of the greatest films about hitler and the nazis was made by Chaplin just as the war was really getting nasty. "The Great Dictator". Check it out.
Scorpio

If Stone bashes the President by telling what really has been happening that's great. I think the movie will end up being a series a false stories of his rise to power. Or maybe about the dupping of the American Public, by a very rich and powerful family. I think the movie should be shelved and never ever be made. When his Presidency is done the only thing I want to hear about him, in a few years, is "The Ex-President died peacfully in his sleep last night". Thank god we'll never elect a President named "Jeb".