Woody Harrelson has reflected on playing former US president Lyndon B. Johnson in the 2017 biographical drama *LBJ*, saying it was a role he would not wish on anyone “unless I didn’t like them”. The comment underlines the strain of portraying a powerful, divisive historical figure whose life and political legacy remain closely scrutinised.

Harrelson took the lead in Rob Reiner’s film, which follows Johnson as he assumes the presidency after John F. Kennedy’s assassination and confronts major political and civil-rights challenges. The actor’s remark suggests that the demanding transformation and responsibility of embodying Johnson made the part especially difficult.