Rumors swirled that actress Carey Mulligan was the frontrunner among choices to play former first lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in an upcoming biopic, but after she was offered the role, reports say that she turned it down.
Mulligan, who is currently starring in "The Great Gatsby" was being courted by director James Ponsoldt to play to the favored politician in an upcoming biopic "Rodham", according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Sources close to the actress told the publication that Mulligan could not commit to the role, but did not cite the recent move from CAA to WME as her reason.
Ponsoldt and producers Wyck Godfrey, Marty Bowen, and Richard Arlook will continue to search for a suitable replacement.
Other actresses that have been named so far include Emma Stone ("The Help"), Jennifer Lawrence ("The Hunger Games"), Reese Witherspoon ("This Means War") and Jessica Chastain ("Zero Dark Thirty").
Ponsoldt spoke to The Independent and said he was honored to be able to choose from such a talented pool of actresses.
"They're all wonderful," Ponsoldt said. "We're very fortunate that a long of really great actors are interested in playing these roles. We're in an enviable position."
Earlier this month Chastain spoke to a press pool in London denying that she had any involvement with the film, reported The Huffington Post.
"No, that's actually not true," Chastain said. "I found out about the project online, but, yeah, there's a lot of stuff out there."
"Rodham", written by Young il-Kim, focuses on a young Clinton early in her career as a lawyer on a committee overseeing President Richard Nixon's impeachment, while juggling feelings for future President Bill Clinton.
When The Independent asked il-Kim if the movie would include sex scenes he said,
"It's an evolving process so I don't know," he said. "She was an attractive 26-year-old with an amazing future. And that's our thematic focus."
According to the UK publication, when The Daily Telegraph insinuated the same inquiry il-Kim snapped, "I didn't write 50 Shades of Rodham."
