Actor David Strathairn has joined the cast of Lincoln for DreamWorks Pictures and director Steven Spielberg.

David Strathairn will portray William Seward, the Secretary of State in Abraham Lincoln's administration. He was also an ardent abolitionist and considered a pivotal member of the President's cabinet. Daniel Day-Lewis is playing President Lincoln, while Sally Field is portraying his wife. Tommy Lee Jones, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Hal Holbrook, James Spader, John Hawkes, Tim Blake Nelson, Bruce McGill, and Joseph Cross have already signed onto the cast as well.

Steven Spielberg will direct Lincoln from a screenplay by Tony Kushner, which is adapted from Doris Kearns Goodwin's book, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.

Production is scheduled to begin this fall in Virginia.