Rounding Out the Cast with Familiar Faces
To keep the story of “Swing Vote” grounded in the real world, the film is peppered with high-profile cameos, including NASCAR racing legend Richard Petty, the great American singer/songwriter Willie Nelson, and television personality Mary Hart (Entertainment Tonight).
Driving the political angle is a host of political pundits who joined forces with the filmmakers without hesitation. Josh and I had a great time casting the political hosts and pundits, says Executive Producer Jonas. Every time we sent the script to one of these folks, they fell in love with it. The most common reaction was that it was very Capra-esque, sort of a reverse Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, which is delightful to hear.
It was a political junkies dream, adds Stern, who was impressed that these non-actors pulled off their roles in the film. Punditry is off the cuff, he says. They were just on.
Aaron Brown anchor of the PBS series Wide Angle, a public affairs series with a global focus
Campbell Brown anchor of CNN Election Center, the networks daily examination of news from the campaign trail
Tucker Carlson MSNBCs senior campaign consultant
James Carville political commentator formerly on Crossfire
Matt Frei BBCs Washington, D.C., correspondent and presenter of BBC World News America
Arianna Huffington co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, a nationally syndicated columnist, author of 11 books and co-host of Left, Right & Center, public radios popular political roundtable program
Larry King Emmy Award-winning host of CNNs Larry King Live, who celebrated his 50th year in broadcasting in 2007
Anne Kornblut staff writer for The Washington Post
Bill Maher HBOs Emmy-nominated host of Real Time with Bill Maher, author of The New York Times best-selling book, New Rules: Polite Musings from a Timid Observer
Chris Matthews host of MSNBCs Hardball with Chris Matthews and The Chris Matthews Show, a syndicated weekly news program
Lawrence ODonnell MSNBC political analyst who appeared on The McLaughlin Group and The Al Franken
