Monday, October 7, 2024

Six Degrees Between Meryl Streep and Abraham Lincoln

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Actually, there are fewer than three degrees between Meryl Streep and Abraham Lincoln.

Streep’s son-in-law to be, Benjamin Walker, signing on to play “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.” The Broadway star of “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson” is engaged to marry Streep’s daughter, Mamie Gummer. Gummer is currently in the cast of ABC’s “Off the Map,” which shoots on the “Lost” set in Hawaii.

Walker and I ran into each other on  Golden Globe night. At the time, he’d tested for the part of Abe Lincoln, who ages from 20 to 55. He asked me to keep it quiet — which I did– lest he jinx getting the role. It was an 8 month process.

It didn’t seem like much of a stretch for him to play the 16th president of the United States. Walker had just spent two years off and on Broadway playing crazy Indian killer prez Andrew Jackson. He is a versatile actor who will now emerge quite quickly as a star of his generation.

You may recall that I’d reported exclusively last year that Walker was all set for “X Men: First Class.”  He dropped out when he decided to take “Andrew Jackson” to Broadway. It worked out well: now he stars in his own movie and isn’t part of an ensemble. Good choice. Walker first met with the producers of “Vampire” when they’d seen his “X Men” test and thought he was a star. “Vampire” starts shooting in March.

By the way, at the Critics Choice Awards, Steven Spielberg got quite a laugh about “Vampire Hunter.” He’s making the real “Lincoln,” starring Daniel Day Lewis. But he wished this production well. “It sounds like great fun,” he said.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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