Richard Jewell Cast & Character Guide

Clint Eastwood’s controversial Oscar-hopeful Richard Jewell hits theaters this weekend – here’s a guide to the cast and characters. Richard Jewell features an all-star cast that includes two Oscar-winners and a star with an uncanny resemblance to the real-life subject.

Directed by Clint Eastwood, the film tells the story of the eponymous Richard Jewell, a low-level security guard who discovers a bomb at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. At first hailed a hero, Jewell soon becomes the subject of the FBI’s investigation into the attack.

It’s notable for its talented cast, but the film has also has garnered controversy, as the Atlanta Journal Constitution has objected to the film’s portrayal of journalists. Nevertheless, Eastwood’s biopic, like Million Dollar Baby and Letters from Iwo Jima, is a late-year release that is generating Oscar buzz for its performances, already picking up a Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe nomination for one of its stars.

Richard Jewell’s Main Cast

Paul Walter Hauser as Richard Jewell: A security guard who discovers the bomb and becomes the target of the FBI’s investigation. A character actor who has worked steadily from 2010 in TV series like Community and Key and Peele, Paul Walter Hauser’s breakout performance was in 2017’s I, Tonya, where he played one of the key conspirators in the attack on Nancy Kerrigan. The next year saw Hauser featured as a white supremacist in Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman. Richard Jewell is his first film in the title role.

Sam Rockwell as Watson Bryant: Richard’s lawyer. MCU fans will know Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer, Tony Stark’s corporate counterpart in Iron Man 2, but Rockwell has a long career playing high-energy antagonists. His first critical acclaim came with the indie darling Lawn Dogs before his scene-stealing performance in 1999’s The Green Mile. He earned an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor two years ago for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and can be seen in this year’s awards-contenders Jojo Rabbit and Fosse/Verdon.

Richard Jewell’s Supporting Cast

Kathy Bates as Bobi Jewell: Richard’s mother. Already nominated for the eighth time at the Golden Globes for her work in Richard Jewell, Bates has an incredible resume featuring three Academy Award nominations including one win for 1990’s Misery, and fourteen Emmy nominations. This is her first collaboration with Eastwood.

Jon Hamm as Tom Shaw: The FBI agent investigating Richard. After his star-making turn in AMC’s Mad Men, Hamm continues to be prolific with supporting turns in action comedies like Baby Driver and Tag. He has a featured role in next year’s blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick.

Olivia Wilde as Kathy Scruggs: A journalist for the Atlanta Journal Constitution leading the media investigation of Richard. Best known for her recurring supporting role on House M.D., Wilde’s recent work includes a featured role in HBO’s Vinyl, and her feature directorial debut, Booksmart, was a hit with critics and received a Best Supporting Actress in a Musical or Comedy Golden Globe nomination.

Nina Arianda as Nadya: Watson Bryant’s legal assistant. Nina Arianda is best-known for her work on Amazon’s Goliath, and she won a Tony for Venus in Fur.

Ian Gomez as Agent Dan Bennett: An FBI agent assisting Shaw’s investigation. Known mostly for supporting roles, Gomez can be seen on Apple TV’s The Morning Show and CW’s Supergirl.

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