HBO Films: CONFIRMATION looks behind the curtain of Washington politics, depicting a pivotal moment in American culture that became a turning point in workplace equality and gender politics. Kerry Washington portrays law professor Anita Hill, who accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment, with Wendell Pierce as Judge Thomas and Greg Kinnear as Democratic Senator Joe Biden, who presided over the hearings as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. To give us all a strong sense of the intensity surrounding this hearing HBO has released this following Extended Teaser.
By watching that Tease it does look highly intense and Kerry Washington does look like Anita Hill and we know she has the acting chops for the role. HBO fans already love Wendell Pierce and by his one line in the clip we are reminded that Thomas puts up a real fight. It is not just a court case of two people trying to undermine each other’s value, but a precedent case for the country with the media right in there and blatant political scheming at play.
Just to get you up to speed on the film we offer a bit more background into the situation. In 1991, President George H. W. Bush nominated Clarence Thomas to succeed retiring Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall on the Supreme Court. There had been little organized opposition to Thomas’ nomination, and his confirmation seemed assured until Anita Hill surfaced. She claimed sexual harassment during tenures with Thomas at two different jobs. She was called forward, in front of Biden, to address the claims regarding his credibility. Four female witnesses waited in the wings to reportedly support Hill’s credibility on 
the matter and were never used placing Anita Hill in the spotlight alone. It is no spoiler in stating, as a result, that Clarence Thomas went on to become a Justice of the Supreme Court and workplace sexual harassment was now in the public consciousness.
Kerry Washington (ABC’s Scandal) stars as Anita Hill, Wendell Pierce (HBO’s TREME and THE WIRE) stars as Clarence Thomas and Greg Kinnear (As Good as It Gets, Little Miss Sunshine) embodies Joe Biden. Look for the HBO Film presentation, directed by Rick Famuyiwa debuting 04.16.16. HBOWatch will review.
