Up until a few weeks ago, Julianne Moore was to star as the Hillary to Dennis Quaid's Bill in HBO Films' upcoming The Special Relationship. Moore then announced that she would withdraw from the project due to scheduling conflicts. EW now reports that HBO has signed Hope Davis (Proof, American Splendor) to take her place.
The project's focus is the relationship between Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, but part of the movie will dramatize Hillary Clinton's relationship with Bill during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Davis talked to EW about her identification with the situation:
Almost every woman in the world has been in that position -- it was a
long time ago in my life -- where the person that you trusted looks at you and says, "I have an admission to make." It's a moment we've all lived through.
Davis also reflected on having to prepare for the role very quickly:
With something like this, you can't spend all your time worrying about
what you sound like, that you're not doing the storytelling part. That has to come first.
Davis will be flying to London this weekend to meet Quaid and director Richard Loncraine. Loncraine was signed on after the project's writer, Peter Morgan, decided not to direct. Morgan also wrote Frost/Nixon and The Queen, both of which starred Michael Sheen. Interestingly enough, Sheen will appear in The Special Relationship as Tony Blair, reprising his role in The Queen.
HBO Films plans to air the movie sometime in 2011.