Jason Schwartzman, Paul Giamatti, and Ruth Wilson Join Disney’s SAVING MR. BANKS

A trio of actors has been tapped to round out the cast of director John Lee Hancock’s (The Blind Side) real-life story Saving Mr. Banks.  The film stars Tom Hanks as Walt Disney and tells the true story of the visionary’s 14-year courtship of Australian author P.L. Travers for the rights to the Mary Poppins character.  Emma Thompson plays Travers, who was wary to sell the rights to the studio as the Mary Poppins story was highly personal and reflected hardships in her own life as well as her relationship with her father.  Variety reports that Jason Schwartzman, Paul Giamatti, and Ruth Wilson (The Lone Ranger) have joined the cast.

Schwarztman will play Richard Morton Sherman, a songwriter who wrote a number of songs for Disney films (including Mary Poppins), while Giamatti will portray Banks’ chauffeur while she’s in Los Angeles.  Wilson will portray Travers’ mother in flashbacks opposite Colin Farrell, who is set as the author’s father.