Sarah Palin has been humiliated on television before, but film producers have turned to a Hollywood heavyweight to portray her most infamous off-screen meltdown.
Julianne Moore, a four-time Oscar nominee, has been asked to re-create the erratic behaviour of the former Governor of Alaska during the 2008 presidential campaign, which, it was reported, culminated in her ignoring advisers, smearing her make-up and refusing to eat.
The film is expected to be shown by HBO before the next election, which may damage Mrs Palin’s White House ambitions. The screenplay is based on Game Change, a sensationalist book about the election campaign.
John McCain, his wife Cindy and the Clintons are also likely to be ridiculed in the film. The book is characterised as “political-porn” for its frank inclusion of gossip and rumours of extramarital sex. The authors claimed that no one had disputed their version of events.
During her run for office a lack of foreign policy experience came to be summed up by the quote “I can see Russia from my house”. The words came from a parody by Tina Fey on the Saturday Night Live sketch show.
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The book described Mrs Palin’s preparations for the vice-presidential debate with Joe Biden, during which she believed that Saddam Hussein had ordered the September 11 attacks.
“When her aides try to quiz her, she would routinely shut down . . . lost in what those around her described as a catatonic stupor,” Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, the political journalists who wrote the book, said.
Asked who he thought should play the book’s most compelling character, Mr Halperin said: “Palin could play herself. It seems she’s willing to do almost anything for money.”