Billy Crudup to portray J. Edgar Hoover in PUBLIC ENEMIES

According to Michael Fleming of Variety, Billy Crudup has signed to play J. Edgar Hoover in Michael Mann’s PUBLIC ENEMIES, currently shooting in Chicago; the Zone’s many Tim Burton fans will remember Mr. Crudup’s performance as Will Bloom in BIG FISH, opposite Marion Cotillard. Director Mann has also cast Stephen Lang in the role of Winstead, the leader of the Texas Rangers who joins the manhunt for John Dillinger (played by Johnny Depp) and his gang of bank robbers. Mann and Lang have worked together several times; Lang was a regular on Mann’s TV series CRIME STORY, and appeared in MANHUNTER and BAND OF THE HAND. Congratulations to both actors; we’re looking forward to seeing how the PUBLIC ENEMIES’ makeup team manages to transform the handsome Mr. Crudup into the not-handsome Mr. Hoover. That’s quite a challenge!

The Zone thanks vermontfudge for breaking the story; you can read more about it on the News & Views forum. –Part-Time Poet