Sally Field To Play Mary-Todd Lincoln In Spielberg’s Lincoln Biopic

A couple of months back it was announced that Daniel Day-Lewis had joined Steven Spielberg‘s biopic Lincoln, replacing Liam Neeson. Now Sally Field has joined the movie in the role of the president’s wife Mary Todd Lincoln. A while back when the movie was still being developed IMDb had listed her as a possible cast member and now it has been confirmed in a press release from the studio.

The release also tells us that the film is expected to begin shooting in the Fall of this year gearing towards a release in the latter half of 2012. Clearly the studio is thinking this will be premium Oscar bait, and with Day-Lewis, Spielberg, Field and a US president who’s to say they’re wrong.

This means the workholic Spielberg will literally be project jumping from one to another. Presumably he’s prepared both Tintin and War Horse for release and once done the press tour in Europe for the former he’ll be straight into shooting Lincoln. Then he’ll be promoting War Horse in December before moving back to Lincoln in the new year. I have to say I’ve always been excited about this project, I’m an unashamed lover of Spielberg and Day-Lewis and Field both have significant talent.

You can read the entire press release below: (Deadline)

Los Angeles, CA (April 13, 2011) – Two-time Academy Award winner Sally Field will star as Mary Todd Lincoln, wife to the 16th President of the United States, in DreamWorks Studios’ “Lincoln” to be directed by Steven Spielberg. The announcement was made today by Spielberg and Stacey Snider, Co-Chairman and CEO of DreamWorks Studios.

Sally Field joins Daniel Day-Lewis, who has been cast to play Abraham Lincoln in the Spielberg film.

“I’m excited to be working with Sally for the first time,” said Steven Spielberg. “I’ve admired her films and she has always been my first choice to portray all the fragility and complexity that was Mary Todd Lincoln.”

“To have the opportunity to work with Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis and to play one of the most complicated and colorful women in American history is simply as good as it gets,” said Sally Field.

Based on the best-selling book, Team of Rivals, by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, the screenplay has been written by the Pulitzer Prize winner, Tony Award winner, and Academy Award nominated writer Tony Kushner. It will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Steven Spielberg.

It is anticipated that the film will focus on the political collision of Lincoln and the powerful men of his cabinet on the road to abolition and the end of the Civil War.

Sally Field is a two-time Academy Award winner as Best Actress in a Leading Role for her roles in “Places in the Heart” and “”Norma Rae.” Field won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama or Comedy Special for her role in “Sybil.” She won her second Emmy for her guest starring role on the long-running drama, “E.R.” Her other film credits include “Steel Magnolias,” “Mrs. Doubtfire,” and “Forrest Gump.” Field currently stars in the ABC series “Brothers & Sisters” for which she won an Emmy in 2007.

Doris Kearns Goodwin won her Pulitzer Prize for No Ordinary Time, the story of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and the home front in World War II. Kushner’s prize was for his play Angels in America, which later became an Emmy Award-winning television special. He had previously worked with Spielberg on Munich for which he was nominated for an Oscar in the Adapted Screenplay category.

Filming is expected to begin in the fall of 2011 for release in the fourth quarter of 2012 through Disney’s Touchstone distribution label.