Sen. Phil Gramm is trading the political stage for the acting stage.
Director Ron Maxwell cast the retiring Texas Republican as — surprise — a politician in his upcoming film "Gods and Generals," a prequel to his 1993 Civil War epic "Gettysburg."
In a non-speaking role, Gramm plays a Virginia delegate at an 1861 gathering to vote on secession. He wears a period costume and sports mutton-chop sideburns as he joins other delegates who watch as the Virginia House speaker nominates Gen. Robert E. Lee (Robert Duvall) to command Virginia's army.
Gramm was to have played a different role. Maxwell wanted the senator to be a military officer; Gramm chose instead to be a private in the Texas Hood Brigade at the Battle of Antietam, the Civil War's bloodiest battle.
But that scene was shot Sept. 12, the day after the terrorist attacks. Gramm was unable to participate so he was recast as a delegate in a scene shot last week at a courthouse in Charlestown, W. Va.
Gramm said doing the movie was a welcome relief from "talking to my staffers every day about anthrax," but he has no misconceptions about his performance.
"I'm not giving up my day job based on the belief that I have a future in Hollywood," said the 59-year-old Gramm, who will retire from the Senate when his term ends in January 2003.
"Gods and Generals" is scheduled for release by Warner Bros. in late 2002 or early 2003.