I think Phillip Seymour Hoffman would be a great choice for Hubbard.

And, physically, David Spade comes to mind for DM.

I would be happy to consider directing this vital piece.

The real question will ultimtately be what kind of budget can be
raised.

It would be good to have at least 10 million.

The real question is that there are just so many stories to tell.

How do you get it all in, in around 2 hours? I think that it
may be important to focus on a particular aspect of his life.

Then we have to determine how "sympathetic" we should be
with his character. Will he be portrayed as a egotistical megolomaniac
and evil SOB?

Or play up the Commedic Villany of it all?

Then should it end with sympathy for this tragic hero?

David Spade has the right look, and can play ruthless, but he'd have to hide that smirk and that irony.

I'm going with Philip Seymour Hoffman...what a great actor! When I saw Capote last Fall, I said to myself, "He will win the Best Actor Oscar. Period."

And it's off-topic, but I like to promote my writing, so here is my college paper review of Capote-

http://spectrum.mcckc.edu/archives/2005 ... capote.htm

All kidding aside I could definately see Philip Seymour Hoffman doing L Ron but I think another serious possibility would be Liam Neeson. With only a little makeup & hair work he could really look the part too (not just act it).




and for DM: Mario Cantone

Liam does "noble" and "conflicted" really well but can he do "narcissistic" and "crazy?"

Al Pacino as Blubbard and the final scene an exact duplicate of 'Scarface".

What about Jack Nicholson - he pulled off the Devil in Witches of Eastwick...and was pretty crazy/psycho in One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest and The Shining...."all work and no play makes L.Ron a dull boy."

Latest list of actors to play LRH, updated July 10, with photos, limited to 64 names.
Note: I know some are too old, too thin, too healthy, too famous, too pretty, too normal. I tried to get the most recent, old-looking photo that looked serious, so you could imagine him chewing people out.

Dan Ackroyd
Kevin Bacon
Alec Baldwin
Christian Bale
Sean Bean
Ed Begley, Jr.
Powers Boothe
Kenneth Branagh
Jeff Bridges
Beau Bridges
Gary Busey
James Caan
Nicholas Cage
Michael Caine
Keith Carradine
Russell Crowe
Willem Dafoe
Matt Damon
Leonardo DiCaprio
Vincent_D'Onofrio
Robert Downey, Jr.
Robert Duvall
Ralph Fiennes
Albert Finney
Brendon Fraser
Kelsey Grammer
Tom Green
Gene Hackman
Tom Hanks
Ed Harris
Philip Semour Hoffman
Anthony Hopkins
William Hurt
Timothy Hutton
Derek Jacobi
Jeffrey Jones
Val Kilmer
Greg Kinnear
Kevin Kline
Hugh Laurie
Heath Ledger
Christopher Lloyd
John Malkovich
Liam Neeson
Sam Neil
Jack Nicholson
Ed O'Neill
Gary Oldman
Clive Owen
Trey Parker
Randy Quaid
Aidan Quinn
John C. Reilly
Tim Robbins
Mickey Rourke
Geoffrey Rush
William Shatner
Kevin Spacey
Peter Stormare
Donald Sutherland
Keifer Sutherland
John Travolta(yeahhh! IF he'd DO it!)
Christopher Walken
Rainn Wilson

In that case, Jabba the Hutt would be perfect for the role of L. Ron Hubbard.

Here's the rest of the cast for my Magoo biopic: "Thirty Years of Hubbard's Hell" ...

older Tory: herself
younger Tory: Renee Zellwegger
Psychotic RPF Victim: Juliette Lewis
RPF Toilet Master: Tom Cruise
Singing Panhandler on Sunset Strip: Lisa Marie Presley
Obnoxious Registrar: Danny Masterson
The Foolish Redhead: Laura Prepon
The Smart Redhead (Escapee): Nicole Kidman
L. Ron Hubbard: Jabba The Hut
Hubbard's pet hippopotomus: Kirsty Alley
Hubbard's irritable chihuahua: Helena Kobrin
Hubbard's anonymous butt-boy: David Miscavige
David Miscavige: Jeremy Irons
Sandy Rosen: Shamu The Killer Whale
Heber Jentzsch: Leslie Nielsen (Naked Gun-style)
Charles Manson: himself



Sea Otter
Xenu Beach, FL

"Calling Scientology a religion is really a lot
like calling Dunkin' Donuts a restaurant."

L. Ron - Travolta in a final act of defiance disguised as 'telling a good tale', swearing at his con ev that he thought it was a 'positive portrayal' while the "Vistral scene" is reviewed.
http://www.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0377471/ ... ta,%20John


David M - Martin Short - shown here preparing for the "smacks a bitch" scene that fades in from "This be my cult now" montage.
http://www.angelfire.com/celeb/martinshort/short.jpe

Wow, Martin Short looks perfectly evil enough to be Miscavige.

DC wrote:

Let's say I have a sense about these things.

How about Leo as the young Ron and Kelsey Grammer as Ron the elder?

Leo and Kelsey have similar facial structure.

Ron was around 40 when Dianetics came out, so the movie will probably start there. Maybe we could have separate votes for:
1. "middle-aged Ron" actor
2. "old Ron" actor
3. actor who could play both

In any event, the actor should be believable as charismatic to his devotees, controlling yet utterly addicted and impotent, vain enough to dye his hair and eyebrows red, yet creepy enough to make your skin crawl.

The main problem with the movie is that it won't be able to show any foul play in Hubbard's death for fear of Miscavige suing, and for lack of evidence of WHO ordered the Vistaril injected, and so forth. And, since Miscavige is still in power, there's no "justice" or "moralistic ending" for CoS. It would be depressing to the movie-goer that so much evil never got punished. Let's hope CoS kicks out Miscavige, or he flees the country, so he won't have the ability or resources to sue.