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Casting Call: Roe v. Wade

As Norma McCorvey Nelson, the vulnerable young woman who was at the root of Roe v. Wade, we'd like to suggest Bella Heathcote. Through her short stint on Amazon's drama The Man in the High Castle as a young woman born out of a Nazi experiment, she has experience playing a woman victimized by the authorities. Heathcote's past roles in films like Dark Shadows and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which have darker storylines but are dusted with humor, could help her bring levity to a heavy role like McCorvey Nelson's. 

 

 

We initially wanted Martin Sheen to play Henry B. Wade, the Dallas County District Attorney bent on keeping Texas's rigid abortion laws in place, but we felt his pro-life views might conflict with the subject of the film. Instead, we decided on Kevin Spacey, another TV president who is known for playing deceptively intelligent and ruthless characters. 

 

 

Unfortunate Oscar incidents aside, we think Warren Beatty would be great as Warren Burger, the Supreme Court judge who pronounced Texas's abortion laws unconstitutional. Beatty's long and storied cinematic history could be put to good use as a stern Supreme Court justice.

 

 

Bryce Dallas Howard could do justice to Sarah Weddington, the 26-year-old lawyer who changed history. A recent graduate of the anthology series Black Mirror, Howard would be perfect for portraying a young woman under significant amounts of pressure. She could also pull from her experience playing Fisher in the Tennessee Williams-penned The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (2008). In the film, Fisher, a woman of modern sensibilities, is the object of ostracism from her peers, which is an experience that Weddington was probably no stranger to. 

 

 

Known for her role as Jenna Hamilton in MTV's Awkward, Ashley Rickards graduated from high school at age 15 and became a member of MENSA. We'd like Rickards to play Sarah Weddington's sharp co-counsel, Linda Coffee. Rickards's passion for women's rights could also give her a great insight into playing the woman who Vanity Fair called Roe v. Wade's "Secret Heroine".

 

 

 

Munro Chambers has certainly grown up a lot since his days as a brooding teen on the popular Canadian soap Degrassi: Next Generation. The 27-year-old Disney alum would make a great Ron Weddington, husband to Sarah Weddington and a part of her support system through the case.