Clooney Casts His Ballot for 'Farragut North'

George Clooney has been holding onto an option for the off-Broadway play Farragut North for a while, and Jo Blo says he's now ready to get started on it. The play is "a political drama about campaign dirty tricks" written by Beau Willmon, a former Democratic political operative. Willmon wrote the play after working for the Howard Dean campaign in 2004. The story takes place in Iowa in the weeks before that state's Democratic caucuses. Though it has nothing to do with the plot of Farragut, Iowa in 2004 was the political Waterloo for Howard Dean. He placed third after charging out of the gates and in his concession speech, let out the Shriek Heard 'Round the World. He ended his campaign a month later. The fictional events portrayed here follow "the exploits of a twentysomething presidential campaign spinmeister/wunderkind named Stephen Myers, and the dirty pool he plays to get his candidate the nomination against a rival senator." Clooney would like to cast Chris Pine as Myers, and that shouldn't be a surprise since the actor wrapped playing the part on stage in Los Angeles last year. Clooney's friend Brad Pitt was in the running to play Myers' boss, which will now go to Philip Seymour Hoffman. Not many roles would follow that trajectory. Well, maybe Troy. Elsewhere, calls have gone out to Evan Rachel Wood and Marisa Tomei and Paul Giamatti will play the rival candidate's campaign manager. Clooney, directing again, may have a small role in his film. Jo Blo says Sony has the inside track to release it but Clooney is still digging up financing. Somewhat obviously, his Smoke House brand will co-produce, and I wonder if Pitt, now recusing himself from on-screen participating, might chip in some Plan B cash.

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[~Rupe]

Farragut North is a station on the Red Line of the Washington DC Metro system.