Leonardo DiCaprio is in talks to play the role of director of America's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in a new J. Edgar Hoover biopic which will be directed by Clint Eastwood.
It actually sounds pretty interesting, and maybe DiCaprio could be just a perfect actor for this kind of role…
So, he could play the first FBI director, huh? And what kind of man was Hoover?
Well, one thing's for sure – he definitely was (and obviously still is) a controversial figure, so no wonder he has been portrayed many times in the media.
The FBI boss has been played by several actors in the past, from Ernest Borgnine and Bob Hoskins through to Billy Crudup, who took a supporting slot as a young Hoover in last year's Public Enemies.
He was known for harassing political activists and wire-tapping public figures, but also credited with building the FBI into a large and efficient crime-fighting agency, and with instituting a number of modern innovations to police technology, such as a centralized fingerprint file and forensic laboratories.
So the upcoming movie would chart Hoover's rise to power, spotlighting his founding of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which he ran right through to his death in 1972.
During his 50s and 60s, Hoover was a pivotal and polarising presence within the US political landscape.
On the other hand, since the 1940s, unsubstantiated rumors have circulated that Hoover was a homosexual, so we guess that the movie could also explain some things about that issue.
Anyway, we could also mention that this project is being written by Dustin Lance Black (that previously worked on Milk) with Brian Grazer on board to produce.
This would be DiCaprio's first collaboration with Eastwood, but looks like he's very excited about possible role, since he said:
“It sounds interesting to say the least. There's no contract, no anything, but I'm a huge fan of Clint's.” We're glad to hear that DiCaprio!
Shooting is scheduled to begin later this year, so we hope you are happy to hear this kind of news. We definitely are, especially since Eastwood is in charge.
It must be very hard doing the biopic about a man that even president Lyndon Johnson described as: “it's better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside pissing in.”
