two; "This was interesting because it covers a much bigger period of time for the character. It allowed me to explore things I wasn't able to explore in the other films and take things further. I just found it a very fascinating story how this man changed with time and how he developed and how he became the man making the choices he eventually made that turned a lot of people against him." Dennis Quaid as Bill Clinton, President of the United States. To match Clinton's physique, Quaid gained in weight by eating McDonald's food every day—which he described as being like "a baby on a feeding schedule"—and had his eyebrows trimmed and his hair grayed. He worked on adopting Clinton's accent, and fell into character once he wore a suit and "Clinton wig". Quaid met Clinton in the late 1990s when he spent a weekend at the White House. He previously played a President of the United States (albeit fictional) in the film American Dreamz, whom he based on George W. Bush. Russell Crowe, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alec Baldwin and Tim Robbins were also considered to play the role. Screenwriter Morgan thought Vince Vaughn would have been a good choice if the film was being made ten years later. Hope Davis as Hillary Clinton, First Lady of the United States. Davis began filming her scenes at the beginning of August. She prepared for the role by listening to audio tapes of Clinton and reading books about her. She also watched video clips of her on YouTube and tried to "get the flavor of her speech across" without directly imitating her accent. Davis told The New York Times, "...she's hard to imitate. Her accent has changed a bit over the years. In 1992, when she became first lady, she had quite a bit of Arkansas still in her speech from her 13 years there. That's really gone now. So her accent has kind of shifted over time but she's lived in very different places." To accurately portray Clinton's appearance, Davis was fitted with a wig, false teeth and wore specially tailored brightly colored pantsuits. Quaid predicted that Davis would receive a lot of attention for her portrayal: "She really looks like Hillary with the puffed up hair and some hip additives". Julianne Moore was originally cast in the role, but was forced to quit less than two weeks before principal