Monday, October 3, 2011

Game Change 2012: Casting Soap Stars as Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul & Rick Santorum


Game Change, the Hollywood version of the 2008 Republican race for the White House, is currently in production, and Julianne Moore has been cast as the polarizing-yet-fabulous Sarah Palin (ONE LIFE TO LIVE's Brittany Underwood appears as Willow Palin). We can't wait to see AS THE WORLD TURNS' Frannie and Sabrina Hughes as “Mamma Grizzly.” As noted by the Huffington Post (and others) “It will take quite an acting job for Moore to play the role--she's an outspoken liberal, and backed Obama during the election.”

According to HBO Films, Game Change follows John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign, from his selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate to their ultimate defeat in the general election. Based on the bestselling book "Game Change," by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, the film is directed by Jay Roach and written by Danny Strong, whose previous collaboration was HBO's Emmy Award winning film, Recount.

With the 2012 elections starting to heat up, we wanted to get a jump on casting “Game Change II.” Although the script hasn't been written yet, we think we've seen enough of the declared candidates to float some suggestions about which daytime soap opera stars we'd like to see cast as each potential president-elect. Thank you to 2012.republican-candidates.org for the candidates' concise bios.

Do you have a certain actor in mind for your favorite (or least favorite!) presidential contender? Tell us all about it in the comments section, below!

Leading Declared 2012 Republican Presidential Candidates

Nancy Lee Grahn as Michele Bachmann


Michele Bachmann, the three-term Minnesota Congresswoman, is the current chair of the Congressional Tea Party Caucus. The attractive Iowan has seen her stature plummet in recent weeks following the entry of Texas Governor, Rick Perry, into the race. The resignation of deputy campaign manager, David Polyansky, and the redeployment of campaign manager Ed Rollins into a consulting role, tell us that all is not well in the Bachmann camp. Her September poll numbers, hovering between 6-8%, are just a third of her post-Ames Straw Poll victory figures--from just a few weeks ago. Pundits have long cited the risks of Bachmann’s increasing tendency to move to the right, and it now appears that she may be holding her two top strategists responsible for the shift in her campaign’s fortunes.

Our casting for the role of Michele was inspired by the delicious irony of Moore as Palin.  Only an actress as brilliant as Nancy Lee Grahn could pull this one off!

Darnell Williams as Herman Cain


Cancer survivor, YouTube sensation and former US Navy mathematician, Herman Cain has a résumé that demands your attention. His experience on all three major fronts of American politics--corporate, legislative and media--through his stellar career at Pillsbury, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (as chairman) and as the host of WSB’s "The Herman Cain Show" in Atlanta, guarantees that the pragmatic Republican will never face a question of credibility.

Darnell Williams didn't win his Emmy for nothing. He's nothing like Cain in real life, but we would love to see him play Cain in the next Game Change movie!

Christian Le Blanc as Jon Huntsman


The 51-year old former Governor of Utah officially announced his entry with the Statue of Liberty serving as the backdrop. A Motorcycle enthusiast and jazz pianist who is fluent in Mandarin, the highly rated and charismatic Republican technocrat is considered by many in Washington as one of most dangerous dark horses in the race, and he may be one of the few contenders capable of unseating President Obama--if he can make it through the primaries.

Since he has the market cornered when it comes to DILF sensibilities and nerdy joie de vivre, Huntsman would easily win if the contest were a round of speed dating. With his Tulane ancient-history and pre-med degree, his published children's book, and more than one Emmy, Christian is the perfect renaissance man to play Jon.

David Canary as Ron Paul


The former medical doctor officially announced his candidacy for the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination on May 13, 2011. The 75-year old Texas Congressman will once again center his campaign on the theme of liberty, human rights and financial market reforms. With his small but vocal pockets of supporters spread all over the country, the Libertarian-leaning Republican is set to be one of the most controversial characters on the campaign trail.

David Canary is our choice for Paul, who sometimes comes across like a sweet Stuart Chandler, and at other times is quite the sly fox, like his twin brother, Adam.

Peter Reckell as Rick Perry


After almost two years of uncertainty, Texas Governor Rick Perry’s wall of resistance has crumbled. Perry took advantage of the publicity generated by the Ames Straw Poll and announced his entry into the Republican nomination race in Charleston, South Carolina, with a confident declaration, "I full well believe I'm going to win". His candidacy is expected to reinvigorate the hitherto subdued Republican evangelical grassroots, and inject some excitement into the contest.

Peter Reckell has played Bo Brady so long, we want to see him do something completely different.  Rick Perry definitely fits the bill! Bonus: similar names, same brand of rugged good looks.

Peter Bergman as Mitt Romney


From the moment John McCain lost the 2008 election to Barack Obama, Romney has emerged as the clear favorite for the Republican 2012 presidential nominee. The Harvard man has been comfortably leading every poll since then. While his ideology and personal beliefs may be subject to debate, his knack for business is beyond question.

We couldn't think of anyone better than Peter Bergman to play Romney. Honestly, are they twins?   Plus, just imagine watching his Romney debate LeBlanc's Huntsman. We'd love that!

Daniel McVicar as Rick Santorum


The former two-term senator from Pennsylvania officially announced his entry into the GOP Presidential nomination race on June 6, 2011, symbolically launching his campaign at the Somerset County Courthouse, located not far from the coal mine where his grandfather first worked after arriving from Italy. Despite his dismal poll numbers, Santorum is confident and warns, "We are going to be in this race, and we're in it to win."

There were so many possibilities for the much-maligned Santorum.  We went with Daniel McVicar, who could perfectly portray the candidate's frustrated underdog status. Yes, we said underDOG. Sorry, Rick.

***

We didn't cast every remaining declared candidate, mostly because some are so unknown they can't even qualify for the Republican debates. Of course, we still have Newt Gingrich left. Aw well, maybe later. We're more excited about who's waiting in the wings: Robert S. Woods as Chris Christie, who may join the race (and the show) any day now.

Alright! We told you ours--and we definitely stuck our necks out. Now, don't be shy. Tell us who you would cast!

2 comments:

  1. Sarah Palin's missing chapter
    http://PalinsDirtyLittleSecret.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  2. I thought that Rick Santorum had a google problem, until I found this post from a google alert. I find it creepy to be associated with this guy who has been a champion of anti-gay causes, and thus promotes prejudice that results in bullying and harm to so many people.

    I appreciate the fun of this post, but wish that I wasn't a part of it.

    All my best
    Daniel McVicar

    ReplyDelete