Ed Harris Cast As John McCain In HBO’s Game Change

by Jon Bershad | 5:29 pm, March 24th, 2011

» 11 comments

While we still have no idea who’s running against Barack Obama in the 2012 election, the candidate announcements in the Hollywood 2008 election are coming in fast and furious! Just a few weeks ago, Julianne Moore was announced as Sarah Palin in the upcoming HBO film Game Change about the election and, since she looks basically nothing like Palin except in the broadest of categories, the only thing we could tell about her John McCain-playing counterpart was that he’d probably be older and probably be balding. But who could it be? Robert Duvall? Gene Hackman? Bruce Willis? Well, now we know as HBO has announced the casting of Ed Harris in the role.

The movie, of course, is based on the book Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann which focussed on all aspects of the campaign but got some particularly good moments from the fractious relationship between Palin and McCain (and his staff). The adaptation is set to be written and directed by Danny Strong and Jay Roach respectively who also helmed the quite good HBO movie Recount about the 2000 election. (I guess John Kerry was even too boring to get his own movie).

Harris does kind of look like McCain. He’s certainly a better fit than Moore as Palin which is nearly a “John Wayne as Genghis Khan” type resemblance. However, they’re both great actors and these should be fun, juicy roles so we’re not worried.

Now, though, we eagerly await the casting of Obama himself. I hear they’ve got a very specific casting notice out for “a black guy.”

Related: Our own Colby Hall gave his dream cast for the movie here.

(h/t The Playlist)

Danny Strong, Ed Harris, Game Change, HBO, Jay Roach, John Heilemann, John McCain, Julianne Moore, Mark Halperin, Sarah Palin

BFD

Good choice but Julliane Moore will probably win the Emmy for portraying Sarah Palin.

Like Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump and Dustin Hoffman in Rainman, whenever an actor plays a retard they are a shoo-in for the top honors. And Julianne Moore will be going “full retard”.
jo hoochie

BFD said:
Good choice but Julliane Moore will probably win the Emmy for portraying Sarah Palin. Like Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump and Dustin Hoffman in Rainman, whenever an actor plays a retard they are a shoo-in for the top honors. And Julianne Moore will be going “full retard”.

You are the retard!! And Idiot!!
The Lantern of Truth

BFD said:
whenever an actor plays a retard they are a shoo-in for the top honors. And Julianne Moore will be going “full retard”.

This is the biggest piece of garbage on this website , and that includes RealRoyalKing /Garth and Publius .
The Lantern of Truth

BFD said:
whenever an actor plays a retard they are a shoo-in for the top honors. And Julianne Moore will be going “full retard”.

This pile of crap thinks it’s fine to call Palin’s baby grandchild a ” BASTARD ” .

BFD says : I think it’s only fair Bristol get 20,000 for speaking as an unwed mother.

As a matter of fact she should have another bastard child and raise her price to double that”
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/glenn-beck-explains-how-the-unions-are-using-teachers-firefighters-and-co ImNotBlue

@ Lantern

Remember it was BFD who, after the AZ shooting said he knew that Palin had nothing to do with it… but didn’t mind her getting blamed, because “it’s just politics.”

Someone willing to use the murder of innocents as a political football. That’s BFD.
writer

Oh yeah? If the left wasn’t so caring and sensitive, he’d really pour it on.
Nachi

Has Harris ever played the role of a phony flim-flam character before?? Playing “Ace McShame” shan’t be easy. How will he portray his total 2.3 hours in combat (U.S. Naval Archives)?? Be interesting. Right, Ace??
writer

Don’t know the total time, but McCain did twenty-three bombing missions before being shot down.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Bob-Hubble/100001340708758 caconservative

Arguably, McCain ran one of the most indistinguishable campaigns of the modern era. About the only thing interesting in that campaigner was Mrs.Palin. Of course, as Hollywood always does, they’ll Hollywood-ize it to the point of absurdity.
Sean68

Oh, goody. Harris is a very good actor, to be sure, but he’s such a punk. He’s another one of those socialists who live like royalty. I can still see him sitting on his stubby hand when Warren Beatty and other sensible liberals stood to applaud Elia Kazan when he received his lifetime Oscar award.
joe7

Do these things really need movies made about them?…