Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone is accumulating a phenomenal cast for his upcoming project about modern day whistleblower, Edward Snowden. With Joseph Gordon-Levitt already cast as the infamous NSA leaker, two entertainment outlets have unveiled four major names set to join him. For fans of last year’s stunning documentary Citizenfour, the following names ought to ring a few bells.
Per The Wrap, The Fighter‘s Melissa Leo is currently engaged in talks to play the documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras, who, at the time of Snowden’s arrest provided a lynchpin of reporting on the topic. Next up is American Horror Story’s Zachary Quinto, who is being eyed for the role of Glenn Greenwald. A lawyer, author and journalist, he became a trusted confidante of Snowden. Finally, Tom Wilkinson is in line for the key role of British reporter Ewen McAskill, the defense and intelligence correspondent for The Guardian.
All three are pivotal components for what’s an undoubtedly complex and nuanced story, and will bring with them a heft of gravitas that this type of drama requires. Elsewhere on the casting slate, Deadline reports that Scott Eastwood has joined as “a National Security Agency agent who leads the group.” All four will star alongside Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley, who’s in the role of Snowden’s unwitting girlfriend, Lindsay Mills.
Currently untitled, the film will explore the NSA leaker’s story by consolidating two perspectives on the case. Stone and his long-time producer collaborator Moritz Boran bagged the rights to two pertinent tomes investigating the case. They are The Time Of The Octopus, written by Snowden’s Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena and The Guardian journalist Luke Harding‘s The Snowden Files: The Inside Story Of The World’s Most Wanted Man.
Production on the Edward Snowden movie is expected to begin soon.
