Sen. McCain’s pick to play him in future film: Ben Affleck

He made sure to tune out last weekend as actor Ed Harris played him in the HBO premiere of “Game Change ” — a movie about former Republican running mate Sarah Palin and his 2008 presidential campaign — but Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) says he has a pretty good idea of who should portray him in any future flick.

When ITK asked who he’d like to see fill his shoes in any upcoming film, McCain deadpanned, “Ben Affleck.”

Of course, at 39, the Academy Award-winning A-lister is about half the 75-year-old lawmaker’s age. McCain’s pick is also a pretty diplomatic choice, considering Affleck, a big-time Democratic donor, supported President Obama, and not the Arizona lawmaker, in the 2008 election.

We inquired with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who is also portrayed, along with Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), in a short scene in “Game Change,” what he thought of his colleague’s choice. Graham said with a laugh, “That works. It would be one of the worst casting decisions in history, but that would be OK.” 

Lieberman called his longtime friend’s selection “good.”

The Connecticut Independent, played by actor Austin Pendleton in the HBO film, seemed pretty happy with his own cinematic counterpart, saying, “I’m encouraged by the number of people who told me that I look better and younger than the actor that they had playing me.”

As far as whom Lieberman would’ve cast for the role: “I wasn’t hoping for Brad Pitt, but I was kind of hoping a Harrison Ford-type character. That would be my choice for me.”

---