Norma Rae meet Daniel Plainview
Sally Field will star as Mary Todd Lincoln in DreamWorks’ “Lincoln," the studio announced on Wednesday.
As previously reported, Daniel Day-Lewis has been tapped to play her husband; a marginally significant president named Abraham Lincoln.
Steven Spielberg is directing the biopic from a script by Tony Kushner. The project is based on Doris Kearns Goodwin's Pulitzer Prize winning book "Team of Rivals."
"I'm excited to be working with Sally for the first time,” Spielberg said in a statement. “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."
Field has been attached to the project for several years, but after original star Liam Neeson exited the film, it wasn't clear if Field would remain on board.
Field won Oscars for “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.
Filming is expected to begin in the fall of 2011 for release in the fourth quarter of 2012 through Disney’s Touchstone distribution label.
