Hugh Jackman is going from playing Wolverine to playing a weasel.
The Australian actor has signed on to play former Democratic presidential candidate Gary Hart in director Jason Reitman’s biopic, The Frontrunner, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The film will focus on the then-senator from Colorado’s ill-fated 1988 presidential campaign, which was derailed when his secret extramarital affair with Donna Rice was exposed by The National Enquirer (with the now infamous cover photo seen above.)
At the time of the implosion, Hart had been leading the polls. After he was forced to drop out of the race, however, Massachusetts Gov. Mike Dukakis, won the Democratic nomination—only to go on to lose to Republican George H. W. Bush.
It’s the second straight biopic for Jackman, who wrapped his turn as circus legend P.T. Barnum in the upcoming The Greatest Showman. He’s also fresh off his last go-around as his signature character, Wolverine, in the superhero flick, Logan.
The Frontrunner is based on the 2014 book, All the Truth Is Out, by Matt Bai, who co-wrote the movie script with former Hillary Clinton press secretary Jay Carson and Reitman.
This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.
