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Lena Dunham to Portray Peggy Noonan in Live Reading of ‘Reagan’ Script

Clinton supporter to play Republican president’s speechwriter

Lena Dunham
Lena Dunham / AP
February 17, 2016

Actress Lena Dunham, known for her liberal activism and support of Hillary Clinton, will portray Ronald Reagan’s speechwriter in a live reading of a fictional screenplay called Reagan.

Dunham will play Peggy Noonan, who served as President Reagan’s speechwriter and also wrote speeches for George H.W. Bush’s presidential campaign, Deadline first reported. Noonan is best known for her work as a columnist for the Wall Street Journal. 

The screenplay, written by Mike Rosolio, was never produced into a film. The plot centers on a President Reagan plagued by dementia in his second term in office. The screenplay was named to the "Black List" of Hollywood’s favorite unproduced scripts last year.

Scheduled for March 5 at the Montalban Theater in Los Angeles, the live reading will also feature a performance from John Cho, famous for his role in Star Trek. The rest of the cast, including the actor who will play Reagan, has yet to be released.

The casting announcement comes just weeks after Dunham campaigned for Clinton in New Hampshire and told a crowd that the former secretary of state’s "anatomy is not the reason I’m voting for her."

"Nothing gets me angrier than when somebody implies that I’m voting for Hillary Clinton because she’s a woman," Dunham, dressed in a "HILLARY" sweater, said to a mostly female crowd. "It’s not like we have some feminist version of beer goggles called ‘estrogen lens’ that just causes us to go walking up to the nearest vagina and vote for them."

Dunham has been an outspoken advocate for Planned Parenthood, abortion rights, paid leave, and other causes.

Clinton has struggled to win over young Democrats despite Dunham’s support. Her challenger for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), leads her by 25 percentage points among likely primary voters between the ages of 18 and 44 nationwide, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.

Sanders is also gaining on Clinton among women nationwide.

Published under: Hillary Clinton