Woody Harrelson is quite an American. Beyond contributing unforgettable performances in such films as Natural Born Killers, The People Vs. Larry Flynt, and White Men Can’t Jump, Harrelson’s also spoken out as an avid advocate for various causes. He’s vocally championed the legalization of recreational cannabis, fought for environmental conservationism, and he’s also a militant vegan. (Harrelson’s devotion runs so deep that the prop department in Zombieland had to doctor up some vegan Twinkies for his character to eat.) The remainder of Harrelson’s political profile is not as charming, however; a self-proclaimed anarchist, Harrelson has also gone on record as a 9/11 truther, calling for a reopening and subsequent investigation as to the true nature of the 2001 terrorist attacks. And with that, my fellow Americans, I give you your next President of the United States: weed-addled anarchist 9/11 truther Woody Harrelson!
Or rather, your 36th President of the United States. THR notes today that Harrelson has signed on to portray Lyndon Baines Johnson in Rob Reiner’s upcoming biopic, simply titled LBJ. The film follows the Texan Democrat in the months following President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, as he endures the trial-by-fire of guiding national grieving while working to push through Kennedy’s historic Civil Rights Act. Reiner most recently got behind the camera for last year’s And So It Goes, a competent rom-com for the graying set starring Diane Keaton and Michael Douglas.
The THR post also points out that this announcement is the latest in a small spike in relevance for LBJ, who was portrayed back in the winter by Tom Wilkinson for Selma (some argued that the Martin Luther King biopic didn’t give the president fair recognition for his role in achieving civil rights, others argued that that’s a crazy thing to demand from a biopic about Martin Luther King) and by Bryan Cranston on Broadway in the play All The Way, soon to play in TV-movie form on HBO. In the three-way showdown between LBJs—an LBJ-off, if you will—only one may emerge victorious. Vegas odds favor the president who was once declared the Sexiest Vegetarian of the Year by PETA.