Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston and director Jay Roach have enlisted Helen Mirren and John Goodman for Trumbo, a biopic on blacklisted Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo.
Cranston has been eyeing the project as his first post-Breaking Bad role since September 2013 and he will play Trumbo. The writer had refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee and was blacklisted in Hollywood, but continued using fronts to write. He even won an Oscar for writing Audrey Hepburn’s Roman Holiday, but it wasn’t until after he died that his name was added to the award.
According to TheWrap, there is no solid deal with Goodman just yet. He would play King Brothers Productions’ Frank King, who produced The Brave One, another film Trumbo won an Oscar for while he was still blacklisted. Goodman and Cranston both starred in Ben Affleck’s Argo.
Meanwhile, Entertainment Weekly also confirmed that Mirren will play gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, who supported the blacklist.
Trumbo will be helmed by Roach, who also directed Game Change. John McNamara wrote the script.
Cranston has also signed on to play President Lyndon B. Johnson again for HBO’s All The Way adaptation.
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