Jim Caviezel would be great in the role of John Galt. Watch him in 'Person of Interest' for a dose of no nonsense, get-the-job-done brilliance and credible, tough-guy realism. He has the look, with eyes of steel and the confident demeanor, to peer up from under that wide-brimmed Fedora hat and BE John Galt. He's certainly got the handsome good looks and is the correct age to be Dagny's ultimate romantic interest, and he can certainly play an entrepreneur engineer/inventor genius. Remember how he portrayed Jesus? This guy can do.

Answer "A" applies for me. A good actor leaves his personal beliefs behind when he assumes a role. The John Galt actor must convey a dead-serious sense of personal integrity, persistence, honesty, commitment to achievement "to the best of one's ability". He must have charisma and a strong grasp of rhetoric to persuade others to his cause.

Oh, no argument, winterwind! My thinking is that there is a message to deliver to those who haven't read the book and aren't devotees. This is, after all, a movie. Personally, I'm willing to give a little creative license to please peoples' physical expectations and biases to expose them to our message. After all, everyone remembers Clark Gable's lines in Gone With The Wind but does anyone remember Leslie Howard's? Both were central, crucial characters.

Not everyone can overlook physicality to see a person's true self, certainly not in a 2-3 hour movie. There are many horses that we need to lead to the water. If briefly satisfying their preconceptions will get them to drink, so be it.

That will just make her want to watch it more! Still like Olyphant the most from the choices I have seen.

I think I'd cast a voice actor like Corey Burton. He'd be able to create exactly the voice you want and that's the most important thing for Galt's speech. I don't know about any passion for Ayn Rand, but he's a consummate professional and makes his money on his own talent and abilities.

Both A and B. He must be a Yaron Brook who looks like a young Clint Eastwood.

So far the best two candidates for the role of John Galt I have heard from the comments below are Iain Glen and Timothy Olyphant. IMDB links are http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3526590464/n... and http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1880726016/n... respectively.

Jim Caviezel is problematic simply because of the Passion of the Christ connection, but he also played Number 6 in the Prisoner reboot (which sucked) so I am torn! :)

No, I managed to miss that during ...the massive traffic jam.

I thought this whole exchange prompted by your comment quite interesting and representative of the kinds of conversations the Gulch usually has. Generally, the truly disrespectful are trolling around in here. Thanks for your input, snakebite

I go for an unknown actor that has to be found by some kind of scouting like John Galt himself.

I really like this idea!

I think it also has to be someone who would pick Dagney over a similarly minded woman, a good physical match as well since it is supposed to represent the"perfect" match.

Exactly right; James Taggart didn't have it in him to succeed on his own. In the true spirit of Objectivism this movie should not be made by committee. Whose work is this movie? Who will accept responsibility for the production? If you believe in free markets you should have confidence this is a work that will rise or fall on it's merit. Nobody wants this movie to succeed more than me. I simply responded to the mass email I received asking for my opinion. I gave my opinion. That caused a defensive reaction from simple_sam whose foul language and crude response I would expect from a looter, not an Objectivist, as the content of his post is not objective in any sense of the word.

I SO agree!

I agree

I like Sinise for the role because Galt was able to work and travel without having that "stand out" quality until he made his ideas known.

I like the suggestion of Gary Sinese as John Galt, he is capable of intensity and is believable as a railroad worker/mastermind. Other choices I would be happy to see would include Tom Sellek, Rob Lowe, Sam Rockwell, Paul Walker, Jake Gyllenhaal.

Any actor that can look and act like the John Galt in the book. Most important is that he can act. A great example of an actor that can act but doesn't necessarily agree with the who he is portraying is George C. Scott as General Patton. An unknown is just as good as a famous actor - as long as he can act (Dustin Hoffman in the Graduate) and bring out the character Ayn Rand envisioned.

I vote B. He needs to have a compassionate side but a strong will with an intellect to allow him to design the "power device"... Several types come to mind: Mark Harmon, Liam Nesson, pierce Brosnan, Chris O'Donnell

Someone looks like Kevin Costner. Handsome. Tall. Smart and practical.

Chris Pine - good thought. He's managed to pull off the James T. Kirk role without indulging in Shatner's overacting. Good emotional range and intensity.

A. Looks and acting skill are the most important. I vote for Paul Bettany. He is tall (6'3") , good-looking in an austere yet intelligent way, and he's an atheist!. If he thinks for himself, he might already be one of us. And he is not a top-ranked star, so he might be available.

Yes, especially Dagny.

I have always envisioned Christian Slater as John Galt when I read the book.

Shoot first for the ideal: both. Most likely, however, the right looking actor will have no philosophy. So require him to read Atlas and all the rest of Ayn's preceding works. I'm predicting after he does, he'll make the right choice.