Burn Notice lead Jeffrey Donovan tweeted today that he had officially been cast as Robert F. Kennedy in Clint Eastwood’s upcoming biopic of J. Edgar Hoover titled J. Edgar. [Collider] This marks the second time that Donovan has appeared in an Eastwood movie, with his first time being in 2008’s Changeling starring Angelina Jolie.
For those of you fuzzy on your American history, let’s do a brief explanation on why Kennedy factors into the story. When J. Edgar assumed control of the new Federal Bureau of Investigation as its first Director, Kennedy was the Attorney General (his brother, President John F. Kennedy, gave him the position despite his utter lack of experience with anything involving the court system on a both federal and state level). The two teamed together in an effort to take down the Mafia and organized crime as a whole, which was partially successful but you can never stomp out crime completely no matter how hard you go about it.
Donovan is just the latest name to sign onto Eastwood’s project. Along with Leonardo DiCaprio, who will be handling the main role (and maybe even an Oscar if the story is told right), Naomi Watts, Armie Hammer, Josh Lucas, Stephen Root (what’s he NOT in?), and Judi Dench are all also part of the cast. Quite an impressive group to say the least, but Eastwood has got clout most of us would dream to have, so it’s no surprise he can gather up a cast with a pedigree.
It’s unclear if the Kennedy/Hoover team up will be a major factor in the overall story Eastwood is going to portray, so Donovan’s role may be huge or just a small bump in the road that was Hoover’s life. Still, Donovan’s a fine actor. I mean, he has to be considering he managed to keep a career going after Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows and everything. That would’ve sunk a lesser motivated actor in a heartbeat. Good for him.
If you’re one of those Burn Notice fans (I know you exist, but where are you?), a new season of the show will run this summer on the USA Network so get excited. Meanwhile, I’ll foam at the mouth waiting for a hopefully awesome biopic about one of the cooler eras in American history.
Jeffrey Donovan is the latest to join the stellar cast of J. Edgar; does his inclusion pique your interest or do you not care? Also, have you really forgiven him for Blair Witch 2 yet?