In a Hugh Jackman interview with NY Mag, I lifted the following:

The awards-giving didn’t quite go exactly the way Jackman would’ve liked, however: “I loved [Precious],” he said. “To me, that was the best movie of the year.” In May, Jackman will begin shooting Precious director Lee Daniels’s Selma — about the 1965 marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama — in which he says he’ll play Jim Clark, the short-tempered Alabama sheriff whose violent arrests of civil-rights protesters got international attention. “You’re the first person I’ve told, so I’m not even sure if I was meant to say that. So there you go, that’s enough trouble for one night,” he told us.

So… after all kinds of speculation, from us, and the rest of the film blogosphere, on what role Jackman would be playing, now we know! As I said in a previous post on the matter, based on the casting sheet I’d read last fall, I just didn’t see Jackman playing any of the listed roles – certainly not Lyndon B Johnson, nor George Wallace (a role we’ve confirmed will go to Robert DeNiro).

At the time I peeked at the casting sheet, Jim Clark wasn’t on it, so he’s likely since been added. In a previous video posted on this blog, Lee Daniels did say that he was still working out the story and the script, so I’m guessing there might be a few more roles that have since been added that weren’t on the initial list I saw.

A brief history on Mr Clark: James G. “Jim” Clark Jr. was the sheriff of Dallas County, Selma, from 1955 to 1966. He, along with other Alabama officials, was responsible for much of the violence directed at civil rights protesters taking part in the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965, including “Bloody Sunday.” He was defeated in 1966 in his bid for reelection, taking odd jobs and spending a brief time in prison before his death in 2007. Too bad he didn’t live long enough to see his racist self portrayed on screen.

So, I’d expect Jackman to put on a little bit of weight for this… Clark wasn’t walking around with a chiseled jawline and a 6-pack

Alright, so, what do we know about Selma thus far, in terms of casting: Robert DeNiro will play Governor George Wallace, Lenny Kravitz will play Andrew Young, and Hugh Jackman will play Jim Clark. The 3 major roles – MLK, LBJ and CSK – are still yet to be cast, with 2 months to go before shooting is scheduled to begin. Unless they’ve already been cast, but no one’s talking. I’d guess that those roles, especially MLK, will be played by unknowns. I can see Daniels following a somewhat similar strategy as in Precious – casting an unknown in the lead, with “name” actors in supporting roles.

Stay tuned…