Meryl Streep, Colman Domingo, and More Join Tom Hanks in Duke Johnson’s ‘Lincoln in the Bardo’

UPDATE: According to THR, Meryl Streep, Colman Domingo, Bill Hader and Tom Waits have joined the A-list cast for Duke Johnson’s animated/live-action “Lincoln in the Bardo.”

So now we have Hanks, Dafoe, Dinklage, Bailey, Streep, Domingo, Hader and Waits. Most of these are voice castings, and so far the only live action role seems to be Hanks.

Streep takes on four voice roles, lending her voice to Abigail Blass, Elizabeth Crawford, an Angel, and a Demon. Domingo voices Thomas Havens, a former slave. Hader plays Eddie Baron and one of the Three Rakes, while Waits voices Jaspar Randall, the ghost of a former dancehall performer

EARLIER: Wait, so this movie is still happening?

It was previously reported that Tom Hanks is set to portray the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, in Duke Johnson’s upcoming live-action/stop-motion hybrid film “Lincoln in the Bardo,” based on George Saunders’ New York Times bestseller and 2017 Booker Prize–winning novel.

The cast has now expanded, with Willem Dafoe, Jonathan Bailey and Peter Dinklage joining the project, according to Deadline.

Dafoe will play Reverend Everly Thomas, a minister who dies expecting heaven but finds something else. Bailey voices Roger Bevins, a young gay man who dies by suicide over heartbreak and immediately regrets it. Dinklage voices Hans Vollman, a ghost longing to reunite with his much younger wife.

Hanks will portray Lincoln in a live-action performance, with production scheduled to take place in London next year. Saunders is adapting his novel for the screen, while Johnson, who previously directed “Anomalisa,” will serve as director.

“Lincoln in the Bardo” combines stop-motion animation and live action to depict an intensely personal period in Lincoln’s life, focusing on his grief following the death of his 11-year-old son. The story is told through an ensemble of living and dead, historical and imagined figures.

Johnson has directed just two films, one of them “Anomalisa,” which he co-helmed with Charlie Kaufman. His other film, “The Actor,” was released last year after significant delays and a truncated theatrical run through Neon, earning mixed reviews.

There is truly only one defining cinematic Lincoln, and that’s Daniel Day-Lewis’ towering performance in Steven Spielberg’s 2012 film. A distant second is Henry Fonda’s portrayal in John Ford’s 1939 film “Young Mr. Lincoln,” which follows the future president during his early years as an Illinois lawyer.

Hanks has recently appeared in “Greyhound,” “News of the World,” “Finch,” “Elvis,” “A Man Called Otto,” “Asteroid City,” and “Here.” He is expected to begin production on Marielle Heller’s “The Comebacker” in September, with “Lincoln in the Bardo” likely to follow.