Woody Harrelson Cast as McCain Advisor in HBO’s ‘Game Change’

Oscar-nominated actor joins Ed Harris and Julianne Moore in Jay Roach film about the 2008 campaign

Woody Harrelson has signed on for the upcoming HBO movie "Game Change," about John McCain's 2008 failed presidential campaign. Harrison will be playing Steve Schmidt, McCain's senior campaign strategist and advisor.

Ed Harris will be playing McCain, while Julianne Moore will portray his running mate, Sarah Palin.

Schmidt famously had a contentious relationship with Palin, stating that she could be a "catastrophic" nominee in 2012.

"Game Change," based on John Heilemann and Mark Halperin's best-selling book of the same name, is directed by Jay Roach and written by Danny Strong, who worked together on HBO's 2008 movie "Recount," about the 2000 election.

Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman are co-executive producing the movie, via Playtones.

Harrelson has been nominated twice for an Oscar.

Credited with giving the McCain/Palin campaign "a new focus and energy" by former George W. Bush strategist Karl Rove, and was dubbed the "lord of outrage" by Time magazine's Michael Scherer, due to his often-indignant attitude toward opponents while speaking to the press.

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