Sally Field has officially signed on to portray Mary Todd Lincoln, the wife of Abraham Lincoln, in Steven Spielberg’s upcoming biopic of the 16th president, Slashfilm.com is reporting. Spielberg and Stacey Snider, the Co-Chairman and CEO of DreamWorks Studio, confirmed the news that Field will appear alongside Daniel Day-Lewis, who is set to play the president.
The movie is based on the book Team of Rivals, which was written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns. Academy Award nominated screenwriter Tony Kushner penned the script for the film, which will “focus on the political collision of Lincoln and the powerful men of his cabinet on the road to abolition and the end of the Civil War.”
Spielberg hopes to be start filming the movie in fall 2011, and wants to release it at the end of 2012. He has said that he’s “excited to be working with (Sally) for the first time…she has always been my first choice to portray all the fragility and complexity that was Mary Todd Lincoln.”
Written by: Karen Benardello
