As production continues to gear up for a shoot early in the New Year, the cast of Clint Eastwood‘s “J. Edgar” continues to grow with yet another intriguing addition.
Reps for Australian actor Damon Herriman have confirmed that he has joined “J. Edgar” in a very unique role. Herriman has been cast as Bruno Hauptmann, the man convicted of kidnapping and killing the Lindbergh baby. His conviction later came into question however, with police accused of doctoring evidence as well as ignoring and intimidating witnesses. The questions raised prompted Hoover to launch an FBI inquiry into the handling of the case.
Herriman is a road warrior in his native Australian, appearing in a number of film and television and roles, however, American audiences might recognize him from his recent five episode stint on the FX series “Justified” as Dewey Crowe. He also had a role in Nash Edgerton‘s acclaimed film “The Square.”
This will easily be the biggest career boost for Herriman yet as he joins Leonardo DiCaprio, playing a young J. Edgar Hoover and Armie Hammer from “The Social Network” as his assistant/closeted lover Clyde Tolson. Charlize Theron is also in talks to join the film as Helen Gandy, a Justice Department file clerk who ended up being Hoover’s personal secretary, working for him for more than 50 years. Right now the actress is deciding between this project and the evil queen role in Rupert Sanders‘ “Snow White And The Huntsman” as both films are set to shoot in early 2011 (“J. Edgar” is already penciled in for an early February shoot in Los Angeles). While we haven’t read ‘Snow White’ we can only assume the role will be bigger than the secretarial turn in “J. Edgar.” Still, the attraction of starring next to DiCaprio and working with Eastwood may be too hard to resist.
Once simply titled “Hoover,” “J.Edgar” was written by Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black. Herriman is repped by Lisa Mann at LMCM in Australia.
