# Cast Spielberg's Lincoln movie for him **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 28, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-spielbergs-lincoln-movie-for-him/314600 "2005-07-28T16:12:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-spielbergs-lincoln-movie-for-him/314600/21 "2005-07-29T13:46:44Z")
> [@Chance the Gardener](#): > > Yes! Sarah Vowell would be excellent! My first thought was Janeane Garafalo, though. I’d be happy with either. > > Russell Crowe might make a good U.S. Grant. And if he’s feeling up to it, I think Michael J. Fox would be the right type to play Stephen Douglass. > > I propose William H. Macy for Andrew Johnson; that seems like his kind of hard-luck role. > > And I know he doesn’t typically do serious roles, but how about Chris Elliot as George McClellan? McClellan always struck me as a smug bastard, and Elliot plays that well. > > As to William Seward, Hannibal Hamlin and Abe Lincoln—I have no idea. And I’m not especially up on Lincoln’s early life, so I don’t have any characters to cast there. I’ll have to think about this. So the marquee will read, **“Steven Spielberg’s _Lincoln_, co-starring Janeane Garafalo, Chris Elliot and Michael J. Fox”**. Acting chops aside, it just doesn’t scream Oscar. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-spielbergs-lincoln-movie-for-him/314600/22 "2005-07-29T13:56:09Z")
**William V.** Morgan Freeman would have been a great choice to play Frederick Douglass twenty-five years ago. When Lincoln was President, Douglass was at best 45. My pick: [Harry J. Lennix.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0502015/) ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-spielbergs-lincoln-movie-for-him/314600/23 "2005-07-29T14:11:11Z")
I thing Gary Oldman should play Booth. Shouldn’t Don King play Douglass? ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-spielbergs-lincoln-movie-for-him/314600/24 "2005-07-29T14:25:54Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > [Lane “My Cousin Vinnie” Smith](http://perso.wanadoo.fr/cinephemeride/images/IDENTITE/LANE%20SMITH.jpg) as > [Salmon Chase](http://www.impeach-andrewjohnson.com/11BiographiesKeyIndividuals/SalmonChaseTest250.jpg) Sorry, he’s [not available.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0809031/) * * * Not many nominations to play Old Abe yet. Hmmm . . . Tommy Lee Jones? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-spielbergs-lincoln-movie-for-him/314600/25 "2005-07-29T14:33:56Z")
The cast of _Friends_ they are available now. Schwimmer as Abe etc…champagne casting ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-spielbergs-lincoln-movie-for-him/314600/26 "2005-07-29T15:22:36Z")
Hmm. Didn’t know that about Lane Smith. In that case… Jim Broadbent. If Neeson wasn’t going to play Lincoln then I’d go with Tom Hanks. (A shame that James Garner is about 20 years too old.) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-spielbergs-lincoln-movie-for-him/314600/27 "2005-07-29T15:56:50Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > The cast of _Friends_ they are available now. Schwimmer as Abe etc…champagne casting So that would mean Matthew Perry as John Wilkes Booth… “I am SO going to shoot you.” ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-spielbergs-lincoln-movie-for-him/314600/28 "2005-07-29T16:00:32Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > What about Kathy Bates as Mary Lincoln? Perfect! _Perfect_, I say! I always hoped Sam Shepard would get to play Lincoln. But he’s probably a little long in the tooth himself at 65. (Though Abe himself was very wizened and “old” for his age.) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-spielbergs-lincoln-movie-for-him/314600/29 "2005-07-29T22:02:19Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > **William V.** Morgan Freeman would have been a great choice to play Frederick Douglass twenty-five years ago. When Lincoln was President, Douglass was at best 45. If there was a series of vignettes leading up to the election, Freeman would be a great choice to play [Dred Scott](http://www.landmarkcases.org/dredscott/images/dred_portrait.gif). (He was dead three years before Lincoln was elected.) ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-spielbergs-lincoln-movie-for-him/314600/30 "2005-07-29T22:18:52Z")
Willem DaFoe as Lincoln. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-spielbergs-lincoln-movie-for-him/314600/31 "2005-07-29T22:20:22Z")
[Frances Conroy](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0175814/) as [Harriet Beecher Stowe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Beecher_Stowe). The man himself… that’s tough. Recent movie Lincolns include Sam Waterston (just doesn’t look right), Lance Henriksen and Hal Holbrook. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-spielbergs-lincoln-movie-for-him/314600/32 "2005-07-29T22:28:26Z")
> [@Marine\_One](#): > > Surely, this wouldn’t work… It could work. And dont call **FriarTed** _Shirley_. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Gene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@Soylent\_Gene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Gene)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-spielbergs-lincoln-movie-for-him/314600/33 "2005-07-29T22:55:03Z")
Think about it…Chris Elliot as Lincoln ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Gene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@Soylent\_Gene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Gene)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-spielbergs-lincoln-movie-for-him/314600/34 "2005-07-29T23:02:42Z")
Think about it…Chris Elliot as Lincoln ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-spielbergs-lincoln-movie-for-him/314600/35 "2005-07-29T23:06:12Z")
> [@Soylent Gene](#): > > Think about it…Chris Elliot as Lincoln Now that I’m done puking, what was it you wanted me to think about? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-spielbergs-lincoln-movie-for-him/314600/36 "2005-07-30T04:18:30Z")
And of course David Hyde Pierce (or Sean Hayes) as [Joshua Speed](http://archive.salon.com/books/it/1999/04/30/lincoln/). Too bad the Coen Brothers aren’t doing it as John Goodman might be an interesting Grant. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-spielbergs-lincoln-movie-for-him/314600/37 "2005-07-30T04:47:16Z")
Maybe they should just have Weta do a CGI Lincoln. Then all you’d have to worry about would be the voice. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-spielbergs-lincoln-movie-for-him/314600/38 "2005-08-01T16:23:25Z")
Thanks for the suggestions so far. I was at the new Lincoln museum in Springfield, Ill. this weekend (well worth the trip, BTW), and there were several photos of Robert Todd Lincoln in 1865 - he did look _amazingly_ like Leonardo diCaprio. Uncanny. I liked Sarah Vowell’s voice of Violet in “The Incredibles,” but judging from the DVD, she looks nothing like Mary Todd Lincoln and is too young for the part. Kathy Bates, talented actress that she is, is probably too old. Frances Conroy has potential, though - good suggestion. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-spielbergs-lincoln-movie-for-him/314600/39 "2005-08-01T16:33:04Z")
Sam Waterson as Lincoln I like Holly Hunter as Mary Lincoln. Interestingly enough, both did the voice overs for these people in Ken Burns’ Civil War documentary. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-spielbergs-lincoln-movie-for-him/314600.md?page=1)