Jason Clarke is in talks to join the growing cast of First Man, the Neil Armstrong biopic that will reteam La La Land director Damien Chazelle and Ryan Gosling.
The movie is casting up ahead of a fall start, with Kyle Chandler closing a deal and Corey Stoll in talks to join the crew as well.
Written by Josh Singer (Spotlight), the drama is described by Universal as a visceral, first-person account of NASA’s mission to land a man on the moon, focusing on the years 1961-1969 and Armstrong, the astronaut who became the first man to set foot on the moon.
Based on the book by James R. Hansen, the movie will explore the sacrifices and the cost — on Armstrong and on the nation — of one of the most dangerous missions in history.
Gosling is playing Armstrong, Chandler will portray test pilot Deke Slayton and Stoll will play astronaut Buzz Aldrin.
If a deal is made, Clarke will play Ed White, the first American to walk in space, who later died in an Apollo mission testing accident.
DreamWorks Pictures is co-financing the film.
Clarke starred in Mudbound, the period race drama from director Dee Rees that was a sensation at Sundance and sold to Netflix. He has several movies in the can, among them the drama Chappaquiddick, in which he plays Ted Kennedy, and the supernatural thriller Winchester, with Helen Mirren. The actor also has roles in The Man With the Iron Heart, in which he plays key Hitler cabinet member Reinhard Heydrich, and Marc Forster’s All I See Is You, opposite Blake Lively.
Clarke is repped by WME, Robert Stein Management and Bloom Hergott.
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