# Who would you cast in a movie about Lincoln? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 16, 2010, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-cast-in-a-movie-about-lincoln/557339 "2010-10-16T14:32:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [October 18, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-cast-in-a-movie-about-lincoln/557339/41 "2010-10-18T16:53:05Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Do you mean Rex Harrison? If only he hadn’t died in 1990! Rex Hamilton played Abraham Lincoln in all six epsiodes of the brief but beloved TV series Police Squad! For a look at his acting chops in the role, [check this out](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm_t3g4RhpY). ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-cast-in-a-movie-about-lincoln/557339/42 "2010-10-18T16:55:11Z")
For Abe, [I’d go with Lyle Lovett.](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm105617664/nm0005164) He’s not really tall enough, but he’s got the lanky look. I also second Levon Helm. He can act. For Mary, I don’t know how well she do drama, but [Melissa McCarthy(Sookie from Gilmore Girls)](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2329711616/nm0565250) has the look - short, plump brunette. Similar bone structure. StG ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-cast-in-a-movie-about-lincoln/557339/43 "2010-10-18T17:44:46Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > “Four score and twenty goddamn years ago…” > > “Sick Semper Tyrannis, motherfucker.” “I am tired of these motherfucking soldiers in this motherfucking South!” I picture Jackson as a Booth who’s in denial about alleged black blood and insist he’s Mediterranean. Kathy Bates would be great for a (long overdue imho) movie about Mary Todd’s last years- her sanity hearings and fights with her estranged son Robert and reclusiveness, perhaps with a younger actress to play her in flashbacks, but she’s ‘long in the tooth’ for the married years. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-cast-in-a-movie-about-lincoln/557339/44 "2010-10-18T17:51:56Z")
Ironically I’m writing a play at the moment about Varina Davis (wife of Jefferson) and totally envision [Bates](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-2i3-C1Saeg/RdStqcMyd0I/AAAAAAAABMU/hMDkAe1L0BE/s400/kathy_bates_2113.jpg)for the [older Varina](http://www.cwtrader.com/lm/listings/images/19_1.jpg) in that. The play is non linear but begins in 1898 as Varina, hated by many southerners for having moved to NYC, tells parts of her story to her close friend in later years, Julia [aka Mrs. Ulysses S] Grant (which was another reason many southerners hated her) as other actresses play her in flashbacks to teen years through age 50. (Varina is an enigmatic character- she wrote hagiographic accounts of her late husband in her final years for publication in newspapers and books, while she told “the real story” in letters to friends and family- she totally knew she was bullshitting about how great he was but she was the high priestess of his cult largely due to financial necessity, though she did say publicly the south was wrong and slavery was evil [another reason many southerners hated her].) ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-cast-in-a-movie-about-lincoln/557339/45 "2010-10-18T18:28:29Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Do you mean Rex Harrison? If only he hadn’t died in 1990! So did Lincoln, so it could work. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-cast-in-a-movie-about-lincoln/557339/46 "2010-10-18T18:32:39Z")
Frank Langella and Pam Anderson. have to find a reason for watching it. If not Pam, Kathy Bates. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-cast-in-a-movie-about-lincoln/557339/47 "2010-10-18T18:45:07Z")
[Angus Scrimm](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0780133/), the “Tall Man” from the Phantasm series of movies. Tall, gaunt, and evil. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-cast-in-a-movie-about-lincoln/557339/48 "2010-10-18T21:14:40Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Frank Langella and Pam Anderson. have to find a reason for watching it. If not Pam, Kathy Bates. Langella’s too meaty and his voice is too deep. Lincoln needs to be somebody who looks like a minor cold would kill him (though he was actually pretty hardy) and with a voice that grates at first but you tune out to how it sounds and listen to what he’s saying after a moment. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-cast-in-a-movie-about-lincoln/557339/49 "2010-10-18T21:34:18Z")
Alexis Denisof 6"2 44 years old good actor bit of a high pitched voice kind of lanky connoisseur of large hats [http://www.about-knowledge.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/alexis\_denisof3.jpg](http://www.about-knowledge.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/alexis_denisof3.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-cast-in-a-movie-about-lincoln/557339/50 "2010-10-18T21:52:29Z")
The guy who played Lincoln in North & South did a pretty good job. Patrick Swayze could out dance him tho. Even with the bad leg. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-cast-in-a-movie-about-lincoln/557339/51 "2010-10-18T22:28:17Z")
Jane Lynch. I mean, she’s even from Illinois and everything. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-cast-in-a-movie-about-lincoln/557339/52 "2010-10-18T22:32:25Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Jane Lynch. > > I mean, she’s even from Illinois and everything. Voice is too deep and too tall. I do like the idea of “That’s how Abe… sees it!” moments. “Tonight I want to talk about sneaky slaves…”. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-cast-in-a-movie-about-lincoln/557339/53 "2010-10-18T23:52:06Z")
I think \*\*Tove \*\*was suggesting Lynch for the Lincoln role! ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-cast-in-a-movie-about-lincoln/557339/54 "2010-10-21T19:52:24Z")
A while back (like before he died), there was a rumor that Disney might update “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” with Harve Pressnell as Lincoln, after seeing the way he read the Lincoln letter in “Saving Private Ryan.” That would have been pretty damned good. But I’m biased. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-cast-in-a-movie-about-lincoln/557339/55 "2010-10-21T20:10:48Z")
The Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum had an Abe & Mary Lincoln impersonator for the Lincoln bicentennial last year. They were great, not sure if they could carry a whole movie, though. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-cast-in-a-movie-about-lincoln/557339/56 "2010-10-21T20:55:20Z")
Get the guy who plays House. If that foppish, very English guy can play House so that it surprises me how different the two people are then that guy can act anything. Hell, he could probably do a great Mrs. Lincoln. However, Ben Cross (as noted above) looks like a good Lincoln. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-cast-in-a-movie-about-lincoln/557339/57 "2010-10-21T20:57:23Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > Get the guy who plays House. If that foppish, very English guy can play House so that it surprises me how different the two people are then that guy can act anything. Hell, he could probably do a great Mrs. Lincoln. Hugh Laurie— oooh. Good one. Already tall and thin and capable of many voices. ---
**Author:** ![sco3tt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@sco3tt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sco3tt)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-cast-in-a-movie-about-lincoln/557339/58 "2010-10-21T23:32:01Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Rex Hamilton played Abraham Lincoln in all six epsiodes of the brief but beloved TV series Police Squad! For a look at his acting chops in the role, [check this out](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm_t3g4RhpY). [Unfortunately also dead](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0358116/board/nest/58833857?d=172207521&p=1#172207521), if random posts on IMDB can be trusted. ---
**Author:** ![sco3tt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@sco3tt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sco3tt)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-cast-in-a-movie-about-lincoln/557339/59 "2010-10-22T00:17:57Z")
> [@5\_time\_champ](#): > > The Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum had an Abe & Mary Lincoln impersonator for the Lincoln bicentennial last year. They were great, not sure if they could carry a whole movie, though. I was in Springfield, Illinois fifteen or so years ago and stopped at a KFC for dinner. Standing next to me in line as I approached the counter was the spit and image of Abraham Lincoln. This wasn’t a case of “kinda looked like him” but rather “looked exactly like him.” Beard, hairstyle, facial features, the whole package. Clearly he was an impersonator for local events, but this must have been his day off, as he was wearing a flannel shirt and blue jeans. It was one of the most surreal experiences I’ve ever had, seeing this guy I’d only known from history books and five dollar bills made flesh, but dressed like he just knocked off work at the plant. So if Spielberg wants someone who has the look, tell him to start scouting Springfield’s KFCs around quittin’ time. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-cast-in-a-movie-about-lincoln/557339/60 "2010-10-22T00:49:56Z")
[QUOTE=sco3tt] Beard, hairstyle, facial features, the whole package. Clearly he was an impersonator for local events, but this must have been his day off, as he was wearing a flannel shirt and blue jeans. [/QUOTE] Lincoln actually wore flannel shirts and blue jeans, or something close. The direct ancestor of blue jeans became popular across the country as work clothes during the 1850s gold rush and Lincoln loved them as his riding attire and even had a pair custom made to fit him. (His wife was mortified because it wasn’t uncommon for him to have six inches of shin exposed since he couldn’t buy pants that fit and had gotten used to it in his poorer days when tailor mades were too expensive.) He never would have gone to KFC though- totally an Arby’s guy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-cast-in-a-movie-about-lincoln/557339.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-cast-in-a-movie-about-lincoln/557339.md?page=4)