'Chappaquiddick' Movie Casts Australian Actor To Portray Ted Kennedy
LOS ANGELES (CBS) – A new movie that will bring Ted Kennedy's Chappaquiddick incident to the big screen has cast its leading role.
Deadline reports that Jason Clarke, an Australian actor who has appeared in "Zero Dark Thirty," "Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes" and "Everest," will portray the late Massachusetts senator.
Kennedy pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of a crash after causing injury in connection with the events of July 18, 1969 on Chappaquiddick Island. Campaign worker Mary Jo Kopechne was in the car Kennedy was driving and died after it went off a bridge and into the water.
The deadly crash, which was not reported to authorities until the next morning, may have also derailed Kennedy's chances of ever becoming president.
"Jason Clarke is the perfect choice to take on the complexities of this role," producer Mark Ciardi told Deadline. "He has unwavering passion and commitment to this project."
The independent movie is set to be filmed in late summer, Deadline reports.
Earlier this year, it was announced that Matthew Perry would play Kennedy in a new series on Reelz.