Ali
“Misery” and “Fried Green Tomatoes” legend Kathy Bates is joining Clint Eastwood’s “The Ballad of Richard Jewell”.
Paul Walter Hauser plays the title role of the real-life Olympic games security guard who was suspected of being a terrorist. Bates will play his mother.
Jewell would find a backpack containing pipe bombs at the 1996 Atlanta games and subsequently sounded the alarm and helped to clear the area. However, the bomb did detonate, killing one person and injuring dozens of others.
Initially hailed as a hero, Jewell was soon the prime suspect, as the FBI searched his home twice. He was later cleared of all charges, with the FBI forced to make a public apology.
Hauser would die at 44 from heart failure.
Jonah Hill, who remains on as a producer alongside Leonardo DiCaprio (who was set to star), was originally set to play Jewell.
Sam Rockwell, playing the role DiCarpio was originally eyeing, is already in negotiations to portray Jewell’s attorney.
Via ‘Deadline‘
