Sally Field Is Mary Todd Lincoln 

Steven Spielberg will direct two-time Academy Award-winner Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln in a biopic on the 16th president written by Tony Award-winner Tony Kushner.

Field had been Spielberg's first choice to take on the role, and she was attached to star in Lincoln back when Liam Neeson was slated to star in the film. Neeson dropped out late last year, and Daniel Day-Lewis stepped into the role.

"To have the opportunity to work with Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis and to play one of the most complicated and colorful women in American history is simply as good as it gets," Sally Field said in a statement.

Kushner's script is based on the best-selling book Team of Rivals by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. This is Field's first leading role in a film in nearly six years.