We all know that Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves. From vampires. We all knew that right? Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov's upcoming adaptation of Seth Graham Smith's novel Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter went through an enormous casting process to find the leading man, with Eric Bana, Josh Lucas and even Academy Award-winner Adrien Brody coming up short in favor of the relative unknown Benjamin Walker. Walker had a brush with Hollywood movie stardom when he accepted the role of Beast in X-Men: First Class, but he had to bow out due to scheduling conflicts and the role ended up going to A Single Man's Nicholas Hoult.
So who is Ben Walker? He's a young actor playing Abraham Lincoln from his mid-20's through his 50's, which helps explain why director Bekmambetov and co-producer Tim Burton decided to skew younger, since old age makeup usually looks more convincing than "young age" makeup. Walker also starred in the off-broadway musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, so he's clearly got experience as a blood-soaked POTUS. It's always interesting to see Hollywood try to make a new star as opposed to elevating (or lowering) a familiar one, so we're going to give them the benefit of the doubt for now and wish Walker the best of luck. Thanks to Deadline for the news.
