Robert Redford’s “The Conspirator” is currently shooting in Savannah, Georgia and faithful readers of The Playlist who live in the area have sent us some exclusive images that lead us to a few scoops.
As previously reported, the picture is a period drama based on true events following the assassination of President Lincoln and centers on the story of Mary Surratt, an alleged accomplice and conspirator of Abraham Lincoln’s assassin John Wilkes Booth.
Robin Wright Penn is playing Surratt, the lone female charged as a co-conspirator, who, when the nation turns against her, is forced to rely on her reluctant lawyer (James McAvoy) to uncover the truth and save her life. To your left is your first look at McAvoy’s Frederick Aiken character who is also an idealistic war hero torn between his sense of morals and his feelings that Surratt deserves a fair trial.
Yesterday we learned that Justin Long joined the cast, playing McAvoy’s character’s best friend, a one-armed Civil War veteran.
Today we’ve exclusively learned of two more players who have joined the cast. A Playlist reader also took a snap of Evan Rachel Wood on the set of the film and apparently she’s playing Wright Penn’s daughter Anna Surratt, which (should) hopefully debunk rumors going around that Wood replaced Wright Penn in the film (one seems too young to replace the other).
While we have no photo yet, we’ve also been told that Toby Kebbell (perhaps best well known as the crack addict rock star in Guy Ritchie’s “Rock N’ Rolla,” he also had a good turn in Shane Meadows’ “Dead Man’s Shoes”) has joined the cast as the assassin John Wilkes Booth, but having parsed the script quickly, you can tell it’s not a huge role and mostly told in flashback. Still it’s a great part and Kebbell also shined in “Control.” In fact, he was our favorite part of that rather dry Joy Division biopic (which led us to put him on our 2007 Breakout Performances list).
Maybe if Redford plays his cards right and stays away from melodrama, we’ll have a frontrunner for the 2010 Oscars.
Okay? Should I be excited? If this is more in the same vein as The Assassination Jesse James from a few years ago (a beautiful and criminally underrated film)count me in. However, if this is gonna be your average crappy historical oscar bait drama, count me out. Something tells me is will be the latter.
redford sure as hell ain't no dominik. expect the latter.
Based on what Lincoln assassination historians have read, and continue to hear from script developers, this film will bear little resemblance to the true history of Surratt's complicity, trial, and hanging. This is unfortuante, because the real history – that is, Mary Surratt's very real and important role in Booth's plans – is far more intriguing and fascinating that the poorly conceived script that dramatizes the fiction that MAry was innocent and a victim of an enraged government hell bent on hanging her. Believe me, they hanged Mary because she was guilty. We wish Redford would stick to the real story, rather than make heroes out of villains, two-bit con artists, and incompetent lawyers.
Kate Larson, author, The Assassins Accomplice: Mary Surratt and the Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln.
"redford sure as hell ain't no dominik?"
You're nuts. Redford is a fantastic director save for his last movie (I'm told). Dude did "Ordinary People" and "Quiz Show," both awesome movies.
Dominik is a very good director, but he hasn't proven himself to be a better filmmaker than Redford. To suggest otherwise is a little ridiculous.
I have been watching the filming at Fort Pulaski this past week and I can tell you Robert Redford is an incredible director (and still pretty hot looking) and the script closely follows the events surronding Mary Surratt's trial and execution. For those that doubt this and that Mary Surratt was indeed innocent please educate yourself. An excellent place to start is the book Manhunt by James Swanson, a well written and factually correct hour by hour account of the 12 day chase for Lincoln's killer.
Glad to see Robert Redford did NOT rely on Kate Larson's book which endorses the whole travesty of the military trial, holding Surratt responsible for every war crime committed by the Confederacy. Anyone who believes that the rush to hang all of the conspirators rather than allow time for appeals was right raises questions about their judgement. Dissatisfaction with Ms. Larsen's account caused me to do a lot of reading of other historians on the subject and the more I read, the less conclusive the evidence against Surratt became. The maximum that ever could have been justified would have been the same fate as Mudd. My money says Redford will do at least as much justice to the truth as Ms. Larsen, who clearly is trying to promote sale of her book. There are much better historians on the subject of the conspiracy and trial.