Barack Obama Lookalike Needed For Roger Ailes Movie, ‘Fair And Balanced’
A movie currently in production — one centered around the life of former Fox News boss Roger Ailes — is looking for someone to play former President Barack Obama. Or someone that looks just like him, at the very least.
The film, which has been called Fair and Balanced during at least some stage of production, will deal with Ailes’ downfall after several women accused him of sexual harassment. In the film, John Lithgow is playing Ailes, Charlize Theron is playing Megyn Kelly, and Nicole Kidman is portraying Gretchen Carlson — the latter two portraying the on-air Fox News women who accused Ailes. Margot Robbie co-stars in the film as Kayla Pospisil, a ficticious Fox News associate producer.
Now, the production is looking for an “Obama Lookalike,” according to a Facebook posting made on Monday by Grant Wilfley Casting. The ad is accepting of actors who are either Screen Actors Guild members or are nonunion actors. Those interested are asked to send their name, cell phone number, union status, their clothes sizes, and recent photos to ailesproject@gwcnyc.com, with the subject heading “Obama lookalike.”
It’s not clear if the actor will be playing Barack Obama himself, or just a character who is meant to look like him.
Fair and Balanced is directed by Jay Roach, who directed the Austin Powers movies as well as such HBO political films as Recount and Game Change. The cast also includes Malcolm McDowell as Rupert Murdoch, Spencer Garrett as Sean Hannity, and Bree Condon as Kimberly Guilfoyle. The Roach-directed film is set for a theatrical release from Lionsgate.
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The film is not to be confused with The Loudest Voice in the Room, a Showtime limited series about Ailes — also in production — in which Russell Crowe is set to play Ailes. Per Deadline, the Showtime version is based on the book of the same name by journalist Gabriel Sherman, which was published prior to Ailes’ downfall. In the Showtime version, Naomi Watts is playing Gretchen Carlson, while Sienna Miller is playing Ailes’ wife, Beth.
A third Ailes project, the documentary Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes, was released in late 2018. It’s not clear which of the other two projects will arrive first.
Roger Ailes — whose career took him from working on TV commercials for Richard Nixon to creating Fox News in 1996 — ran the network until he was fired in the summer of 2016 after multiple sexual harassment accusations. After a stint assisting the Trump presidential campaign with debate prep, Ailes died in early 2017.
