Paul Walter Hauser to take lead in Eastwood’s The Ballad of Richard Jewell

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Clint Eastwood is moving full-speed ahead as casting continues on his latest film, THE BALLAD OF RICHARD JEWELL. According to THR, he's found his leading man in rising-star Paul Walter Hauser, best known his his roles in I, TONYA, BLACKKKLANSMAN, LATE NIGHT, and Cobra Kai.

Paul Walter Hauser will play the titular character is the film which is "based on the life of a security guard whose life was turned upside down in a moment after it was leaked by law enforcement to a reporter that [Richard] Jewell was a possible suspect in the Olympic Park bombing during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. From the moment he was outed by an article written by an overzealous reporter at the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Jewell went from hero to one of the most hated men in America." Just several days ago it was announced that Sam Rockwell was in final negotiations to play the attorney who defends Richard Jewell after he is wrongfully accused, and Variety's Justin Kroll added on Twitter that Clint Eastwood had considered Matt Damon, Christian Bale, and Bradley Cooper for Rockwell's role but that Hauser was always the top choice to play Jewell from the start. Although the real-life Jewell was finally cleared by the FBI several months later, the events took a great toll on his personal and professional life and he sadly died of heart failure at the age of 44 in 2007. Scripted by Billy Ray (TERMINATOR: DARK FATE), the film is based on the Vanity Fair article "The Ballad of Richard Jewell" written by Marie Brenner.

Paul Walter Hauser recently wrapped DA 5 BLOODS, an upcoming Netflix film which reunited him with his BLACKKKLANSMAN director Spike Lee, and is moving to SILK ROAD next, a true-crime film which stars Jason Clarke and Nick Robinson.