AUSTIN POWERS director Jay Roach is turning his lens on a more serious subject for latest picture TRUMBO, starring Bryan Cranston. Cranston plays the title role of Dalton Trumbo, the screenwriter of SPARTACUS amongst others, who ended up on the infamous blacklist thanks to the House Un-American Activities Committee in the late Forties. One of numerous individuals who refused to testify and hence got tarred by the Commie brush, Trumbo worked under pseudonyms, partly helped by producer Frank King. Roach wants John Goodman in the part of King and if the bear-like actor accepts he and Cranston will be back in the movie subterfuge business – the pair previously worked on a conspiracy to create a fake sci-fi film in ARGO.
Soreness abounds to this day about the blacklist, with stars like Ed Harris refusing to applaud director Elia Kazan during the Oscars in 1999 due to his naming names. Others who put people out of work in the face of hysteria included former actor-turned-President Ronald Reagan, who worked as an informer for the FBI.
Helen Mirren has been confirmed as columnist Hedda Hopper. While Roach isn’t the first name you think of when it comes to searing political insight (though in fairness he did helm THE CAMPAIGN), the talent he has in place should bring this controversial period of Hollywood history to the screen with all the vigour of a bug hitting a windshield. Goodman will also be headlining VALENCIA, a claustrophobic thriller with apocalyptic overtones from J.J.Abrams’ Bad Robot Stable.
Source: TheWrap
