Now that Ben Affleck is starting work on real-life hostage rescue drama Argo, he’s been filling in the few remaining roles left to cast, with Tate Donovan, Taylor Schilling and Nelson Franklin all scoring jobs.
As well as calling the shots, Affleck is leading up the cast as Tony Mendez, a CIA infiltration expert who masterminded a fake science fiction film to use as a cover to help extract six American civilians from captivity in Tehran.
Good Night, and Good Luck’s Donovan is on to play Bob Anders, one of the main consular officers, while Dark Matter’s Schilling will be Christine Mendez, Tony’s wife, who has the unenviable job of worrying for her husband’s safety when he’s out on dangerous missions. Franklin – probably most recognizable for his recent turn as Comeau in Scott Pilgrim Vs the World – is appearing as a reporter.
They’re joining a top-notch cast that includes Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Kyle Chandler and Alan Arkin.
Affleck’s working from Chris Terrio’s script, itself adapted from Joshuah Bearman’s 2007 Wired article, which chronicled the quirky true story of how the CIA and Canadian intelligence types cooked up the idea of Argo, a Hollywood film which the diplomats could pretend to be working on in order to sneak out of Iran.