Plame "delighted" with Watts, Penn casting

Valerie Plame has said that she was delighted Naomi Watts and Sean Penn were cast in Fair Game, the true story of how she was outed as a covert CIA operative.

The ex-spy is portrayed by Watts in the Doug Liman-directed movie, while her husband Joseph Wilson is played by Penn.

Plame told Metro: "Of course we were delighted that actors of the calibre of Naomi Watts and Sean Penn were willing to participate in it and it tells an important story.

"When we first started, I was thinking about All The President's Men, which tells that story of power and the abuse of power, and I think Fair Game does the same thing."

Asked about how Watts and Penn were cast, Plame explained: "That happened very quickly. Jez Butterworth, one of the writers, was friendly with Naomi. I think she was feeding her 10-day-old baby and Jez rang her up and said, 'Please read five pages'. She said, 'I'm tired, please, I don't want to'.

"But she acquiesced and he knew five pages would turn into the whole script and she accepted. She's friendly with Sean and I guess that part quickly fell into place."

> Click here to read our review of Fair Game