Bill Murray has just signed to play Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the adaptation of the British Radio play, “Hyde Park on the Hudson.”
Vulture is reporting:
The project, set up at Focus Features and the UK’s Film4, recounts the quasi-incestuous love affair between the president and his distant cousin, Margaret Stuckley, and takes place on the June 1939 weekend that the British King and Queen visited Roosevelt at his upstate New York cottage, in the first-ever visit to America by a member of the United Kingdom monarchy.
Bill Murray is always a pleasant surprise. Everyone talks about his brilliant turn in “Zombieland” (a role that probably makes the otherwise pretty forgettable film feel like it was pretty good), and that’s just one great example of how he can make something out of nothing. Personally, I think the funniest Murray moment in recent years is his turn as Agent 13 in “Get Smart,” but he’s proven over and over again he actually has some pretty great serious acting chops as well. My understanding is that the FDR in this play is a serious role, so it’ll be fun to see what he does with it!
