Former Congressman George Santos has barely been out of office for a few days, and already the narrative has shifted from the reasons he got expelled from Congress to a possible movie on HBO about his life according to Deadline. It would be based on Mark Chiusano’s new book The Fabulist: The Lying, Hustling, Grifting, Stealing, and Very American Legend of George Santos and executive produced by Veep‘s Frank Rich. And the internet already has plenty of ideas about who should play Santos in this biopic.
Santos, only the sixth member to be expelled in the entire 234-year history of the House of Representatives, was expelled for a host of reasons detailed in a House Ethics Committee report, including using campaign funds to pay for Botox, OnlyFans, Sephora, credit card debt, meals, parking and a purchase at luxury store Hermes with constituent donations. He’s also been charged with defrauding his donors.
The internet immediately thought of Blue Beetle and What We Do in the Shadows star Harvey Guillén for the role of Santos.
But there were also some out-of-pocket-ideas. Like Jared Leto.
Or, hey, someone said. Let’s make it animated and cast Chris Pratt. Why not? He’s been cast in everything else from Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Movie to Garfield himself.
Then there was the option of drag queen Jan Sport, alluding back to Santos’s time in drag, something he has vehemently denied.
Or even Jack Black.
Of course, another really strong contender was Nelson Franklin from Veep and Black-ish.
All hilarious ideas and good examples of the internet being undefeated, though only Guillén is a serious contender for the role considering Santos’ cultural background.
But, perhaps, the ultimate idea was to have George Santos play George Santos. Considering the former Congressman’s legal issues, this isn’t likely to happen, but the internet can dream.