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Nicole Kidman Cast as Outed CIA Agent Valerie Plame

by Kevin Powers
February 12, 2008
Source: MTV

The Bush administration has certainly given Hollywood a lot of fodder, most of it mediocre. Rendition and Lions for Lambs, for instance, were pretty much forgettable. The Kingdom was a might better, but a well-worn topic. And here soon comes the uninteresting Stop Loss. Through all these lackluster productions, there seems to always be Hollywood A-Listers attached. Our friends over at MTV bring us the latest news on this political, celebrity-filled subset of film: Nicole Kidman will star as outed CIA agent Valerie Plame in a biopic directed by Doug Liman (Jumper, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, the Bourne series).

Now, how one tries to make a successful biographical film about a covert CIA agent that is anywhere near adjacent to non-fiction is a bit beyond me. Breach and The Good Shepard, while largely accurate and descriptive, were nevertheless slow-paced and stunted at the box-office. Even Plame's own book, "Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House" (check it out on Amazon.com) was significantly censored by the CIA. Ballsy is a pretty kind description for how Liman feels about the intended product.

Liman tells MTV, "I have a really, really insane take on how to tell it. It's so outrageous. Ultimately, I'd be doing something no one has ever done before. Therefore it's automatically appealing to me. I'm just starting to explore whether [what I have in mind] is even possible to do."

Kidman, of course, seems a nice fit. Beyond the evident physical similarities, the Aussie does a decent job at playing a sneaky, strong-willed female; I'm mainly thinking of The Interpreter and (god-forbid) The Invasion here, but perhaps her role as the dark, manipulative Marisa Coulter in The Golden Compass might give her some extra bite portraying a spy. However, I can't see her as a female Jason Bourne, though it'll be great to see if Liman takes it in that direction.

Liman reveals Kidman has been on his brain for some time. "Nicole was supposed to play Jane Smith in 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith.' We owe a movie together! That's an unrequited thing between me and an actor where I fell in love with them for a role and never get to consummate it."

Warner Brothers purchased the rights to Plame's story back in 2007, so it's good to hear that movement is being made on one of the country's more titillating spy tails. It'll be interesting to see where Liman takes the film and I'm sure the CIA will be watching!

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