As we mentioned when the BBC cast Daniel Radcliffe, their Grand Theft Auto biopic will deal with the fight between Rockstar co-founder Sam Houser and anti-gaming former attorney and current attention leech Jack Thompson. At the time, I was rooting for Ian McKellan, but the BBC has an even better casting choice in mind.
The Hollywood Reporter has found that the movie is looking to cast Bill Paxton as Thompson. Paxton’s quite a good actor, of course, but he’s especially good at playing smug jerks, and Jack Thompson might be the God of Smug Jerks. Properly written, Thompson is a great role, a mix of undeserved self-righteousness and underlying instability a good actor can really sink their teeth into. Sure, Thompson will now probably try to sue Paxton and the BBC, and fill the motion with gay porn, but at least everybody involved will get a laugh out of it.
Besides, Paxton has already mastered the perfect line for when Thompson is stripped of his license to practice law: