Leonardo DiCaprio to Play Woodrow Wilson in New Biopic About the 28th President [VIDEO]
Leonardo DiCaprio will be portraying Woodrow Wilson in an upcoming biopic about the 28th President of the United States.
The biopic will be based on a biography about Wilson by A. Scott Berg, the rights for which have been acquired by Warner Bros. DiCaprio will be producing the film with Jennifer Davison Killoran (his partner at Appian Way) and Berg.
It took Berg 13 years to complete the biography which follows the story of Wilson and deals with his image as the great forgotten president. It focuses on the decisions Wilson took during the second world war, at first resisting involvement but eventually rising to the occasion, joining the allies and leading the U.S. into war to protect the ideals of a democracy.
The studio and Appian Way seem to have been encouraged by the similarities between Wilson's dilemma during the world war and the current political crisis relating to Syria. They feel it is an apt time to be telling a story as this one.
In the book, Berg details Wilson's struggle to convince the allies to not punish Germany by seeking to seize territory. While Wilson could not get the allies to agree with his vision he did eventually set up the International League of Nations
Wilson was elected president in 1912 and held office through WWII.
The last time DiCaprio was seen portraying a figure of political significance was in the J. Edgar Hoover biopic.
Berg's other biopics have also been picked up for adaptations. Steven Spielberg has acquired and will be directing the adaption for Lindbergh -- a biopic about Charles Lynbergh, a flying ace in the Twenties and a known Nazi sympathizer. Michael Grandage is set to direct an adaptation of Berg's book, Genius, which is about the editor Max Perkins, Michael Fassbender and Colin Firth are being considered for roles in that adaptation.
Watch DiCaprio play Hoover in this clip from J. Edgar:
