Willem Dafoe, Jonathan Bailey and Peter Dinklage have joined the voice cast of Lincoln in the Bardo, a hybrid stop-motion animation and live-action film from Starburns Industries. The film adapts George Saunders’ acclaimed novel of the same name.
According to Deadline, two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks will play Abraham Lincoln in the live-action portions of the Duke Johnson-directed film.
Saunders adapted his own novel for the screen. The 2017 Booker Prize-winning work, also a New York Times bestseller, explores one of the most intimate periods of Lincoln’s life through his relationship with his recently deceased 11-year-old son.
The film blends history and imagination through an ensemble of living and dead characters, both historical and fictional. It explores love, empathy and the human capacity for connection in the face of unimaginable grief.
Dafoe will voice Reverend Everly Thomas, a ghostly minister who died believing he would enter heaven, only to discover otherwise. Bailey will voice Roger Bevins, a young gay man who took his own life after a failed love affair and immediately regretted it. Dinklage will voice Hans Vollman, a ghost consumed by his desire to reunite with his much younger wife.
Four-time Oscar nominee Dafoe’s credits include the animated films Finding Nemo, Fantastic Mr Fox and The Boy and the Heron. His other work includes At Eternity’s Gate, The Florida Project, Shadow of the Vampire and the Oscar-winning Platoon. He is represented by WME, The Artists Partnership and Circle Management.
Emmy-nominated Bailey has appeared in the Wicked franchise, Jurassic World: Rebirth, the limited series Fellow Travelers and Netflix’s Bridgerton. He will next star in the untitled John Lee Hancock film about Monsanto. He is represented by CAA, Conway van Gelder Grant, Anonymous Content and Hansen Jacobson Teller.
Four-time Emmy winner Dinklage’s credits include the upcoming Black Bear title Wicker, Roofman, Joe Wright’s Cyrano and HBO’s global hit Game of Thrones. He is represented by CAA and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.
Johnson, Paul Young and Devon Young Rabinowitz are producing through Starburns Industries. Hanks and Gary Goetzman are producing through Playtone. Steven Shareshian, Aaron Mitchell and Saunders serve as executive producers.
CAA Media Finance and WME Independent are handling sales at the upcoming Toronto Film Festival market.
