Hollywood nice guy Tom Hanks has been cast in the gritty drama "Charlie Wilson's War," Variety reports.

Hanks will play a congressman who survived personal scandal to oversee the largest CIA operation in history by funding resistance fighters in Afghanistan in their war against Russia.

The film, which Hanks is also producing, is being written by "West Wing" creator Aaron Sorkin.

Shooting is slated to begin next spring after Hanks wraps up the big-screen adaptation of Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code."

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