JAG's David James Elliot Joins TRUMBO Film as John Wayne

According to The Hollywood Reporter, David James Elliott is set to take on the role of John Wayne in the upcoming indie biopic TRUMBO, helmed by Jay Roach. Peter Mackenzie is also boarding the pic.

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Also in the cast are Bryan Cranston, Helen Mirren, Michael Stuhlbarg and John Goodman.

The movie is based on the life of blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo. A renowned Hollywood screenwriter, Trumbo was sent to prison in 1950 for refusing to answer to Congress' House UnAmerican Activities Committee. Upon his release, Trumbo went on to win two Oscars under pseudonyms. John McNamara wrote the script and is producing with Groundswell Productions' Michael London.

Cranston will take on the lead role, with Mirren appearing as 'Hedda Hopper', the gossip columnist who went after Trumbo after he refused to testify in front of the committee. Goodman will play 'Frank King', head of King Brothers Productions, which hired Trumbo as a writer on The Brave One and more, even though the scribe was blacklisted.

Elliott will have the task of portraying film legend John Wayne, who served as president of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals for four years. Mackenzie will play Robert Kenny, the defense attorney for the Hollywood 10.

Among Elliott's upcoming big screen projects are Another Stateside and Dawn Patrol. He appeared in a couple episodes of AMC's Mad Men and counts GCB, Scoundrels, The Guard, Close to Home and JAG among his other TV credits.

Mackenzie will next be seen in Altas Shrugged: Who Is John Galt, Any Day and the TV pilot Black-ish. Among his other TV credits are Hart of Dixie, Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 and more.

Pictured: David James Elliott in GCB. Photo by Bill Matlock/ABC.