A couple of weeks ago, Charlize Theron was forced to drop out of Clint Eastwood’s biopic of J. Edgar Hoover, due to scheduling issues. Almost immediately the leading contender to take over the role of Hoover’s secretary, Helen Gandy, was Naomi Watts, and now Deadline reports that’s exactly what’s happening.
Although initially it looked like Watts wouldn’t have time, that’s now been sorted out so she can take on the role of the woman who worked by Hoover’s side for 54 years, becoming an influential figure in her own right and the ultimate keeper of secrets. She helped shape the FBI, and was also fiercely loyal to her boss, spending weeks after he died destroying any incriminating documents that could show how he used personal information that he’d acquired to manipulate and control powerful government figures.
Watts join Leo DiCaprio as Hoover, Armie Hammer as J. Edgar’s confidante and alleged lover Clyde Tolson, Ed Westwick as a clean-cut operative hired to write Hoover’s biography, Josh Lucas as Charles Lindbergh and Damon Herriman as Lindbergh baby kidnapper, Bruno Hauptmann.