Matt Damon to play Robert F. Kennedy in a film by Gary Ross

Brad Sturdivant February 24th, 2010

Matt Damon is everywhere these days. After agreeing to Soderbergh’s CONTAGION and circling THE TRADE with Ben Affleck, he’s now looking to star as Robert F. Kennedy in a planned biopic on the late Senator. Gary Ross will be directing from a script by Steven Knight. The story will follow RFK from his time in the shadow of his older brother to his days as a natural leader and will be based on the Evan Thomas biography HIS LIFE.

No deal is officially done yet, but this looks like it will happen. At first, I was taken aback by having Matt Damon star as Robert F. Kennedy, but after I thought about, I think it might actually work. Damon has the accent and the look to make this really work. But any film about the Kennedys is tricky because they still resonate in the minds of the American people so much. It will be a fine line between portraying them and mimicking them. But Damon definitely has the talent to pull it off, so they’re going to have to surround him with talent.

Matt Damon and Robert F. Kennedy