Katie Couric (Patricia Richardson)
It wouldn’t take much to play Katie and quite frankly she was a late addition to the cast due to her interview snippets with VP candidate Sarah Palin that got so much attention. Couric doesn’t play a really big role in the film, but Richardson seems a fine choice as she already had a short 9 episode stint on “The West Wing” in 2005 and 2006 to get her warmed up for a part in a political potboiler.
Keith Olbermann (Harold Ramis)
Harold Ramis seems to be the only man with a head big enough to play MSNBC’s far-left leaning commentator, and I mean that literally. Ramis also has the wherewithal to play the role with enough comedic timing as well as occasional sense for the dramatic to make the character work.
Others Considered: Tim Robbins, Dan Patrick, Kevin Kline
Bill O’Reilly (Chris Cooper)
Next we have Olbermann and every other news anchor’s nemesis, the loud mouthed yet colorful Bill O’Reilly. Chris Cooper is a talented enough actor to pull off the occasional bouts of O’Reilly rage and couple it with his frequent lack of logic.
Others Considered: James Woods, Steven Colbert, Alan Alda
Wolf Blitzer (Richard Dreyfuss)
Richard Dreyfuss said during press for Poseidon he did the film because they paid him. It is that kind of attitude needed to phone in such a bland performance necessary to play CNN’s roaming beard, Wolf Blitzer.
Others Considered: Bill Mahar, Michael Douglas, David Morse, Tom Hanks
Anderson Cooper (David Strathairn)
The straight and narrow Anderson Cooper part seems a perfect match for David Strathairn. Cooper is 41-years-old and while Strathairn is almost 18 years his elder it is a perfect choice with just a little bit of makeup and hairdye to top it off.
Others Considered: Tom Cruise, Lee Pace, Ed Norton, George Clooney
Campbell Brown (Mary-Louise Parker)
This one seemed like a no-brainer to me once I finally thought of it. Originally Liv Tyler was in the running, but Mary Louise-Parker is a match made in heaven and she also has the “West Wing” experience to back it up.
Lou Dobbs (Angry Bulldog)
Some people may think of this as a joke. It’s not. Lou Dobbs is just lucky we didn’t try and find a rabid angry bulldog. Dobbs may be one of the most disgruntled gentlemen on television right now and I think if we take a bulldog and wrap a rubber band around his nuts we may be able to match his intensity.
Others Considered: Toby Jones, Wayne Newton
Chris Matthews (Brian Cox)
Chris Matthews is perhaps the most harmless of the bunch. Occasionally he gets a little worked up, but I think it is a role Brian Cox could fall into relatively easily.
Others Considered: Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Steve Colbert and Jon Stewart as Themselves
Colbert and Stewart will serve as something of referees throughout the entire film as well as comic relief, there is no replacing either of them.
Continue to the next page to see who was cast in the roles of the potential candidates we lost in the primaries.
