HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Bruce Greenwood will play JFK in New Line's "Thirteen Days,'' a Kevin Costner-starrer set during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. Roger Donaldson directs. Greenwood has starred in Atom Egoyan's "The Sweet Hereafter'' and "Exotica,'' and has a passel of upcoming pictures in the wings, including "Thick as Thieves'' with Alec Baldwin; Chris Menges' "The Lost Son''; and "Cord'' with Daryl Hannah, Jennifer Tilly and Vincent Gallo; Paramount's pair "Double Jeopardy'' with Ashley Judd and "Rules of Engagement'' with Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson; and Fox's "Here on Earth.''
Daily Variety 8/15/99

Preceeding the "official" news by more than a week was an unofficial report that appeared as a breaking news story on The Ain't-It-Cool-News site. The website includes a posting board, which contained detailed information on the film, significant data on Bruce's role along with insider comments on his casting and audition. The main news story is repeated here:

I have this story confirmed so this casting is dead on. Oh hell, I forgot my place. Hey folks, Harry here, with the psychedelic poltergeist of Timothy Leary with an inside look at the casting of John F Kennedy in the upcoming 13 DAYS. Now, I know what a lot of you folks are thinking. "Oh... that other project by David Self, writer of THE HAUNTING." Well, while David Self was the credited screenwriter... His last draft was before DeBont came on, and before Spielberg started playing musical screenwriters with the script. Character motivations, intimate scenes and a near complete different ending were all quite different in Self's draft. Oh... and dialogue was changed radically. However, under the protective wing of New Line and Beacon surely... SURELY no travesty will befall Self or his script again. (Even if I did have a lot of fun with that film, it was a worse movie for the changes) If, somehow, the gods smile upon Donaldson... If somehow the following alleged 'possession' is true and if they can find an equally possessed soul to fill RFK's shoes... then we will have a film that could quite possibly be a best picture quality. However, there are lots and LOTS of missteps the project can take... I don't think this was one. I like Bruce Greenwood and I feel he might very well be looking at the film role that will break him into the mainstream. Too bad folks (en masse) didn't see EXOTICA or SWEET HEREAFTER.... sigh... Well here ya go...

Harry my boy, stick out your tongue, I want to give you a drop (Leary-style) on the trades. I know your interest in 13Days was diminished when Donaldson signed on, but they just cast Bruce Greenwood as JFK. Now I know you're going, "Greenwood? Who the hell... oh, THAT guy. What are they thinking?" But you should see his tape. As the transient psychedelic poltergeist, I recognize a possession when I see one, and this was no performance. He channeled that great man. The ghost of fucking JFK walks the dreary halls of Barwick Independent Studios. He got the cadence. He underplayed the accent so you didn't feel like you were being assaulted by an impersonator. He nailed that unfocussed middle-distance stare, you know the one when the man seemed to be staring into the infinite (where I now float). He even held his body in Kennedy's distinctive slouches and leanings in response to that back pain the President had. It was sheer mastery. He disappears in the role. After a while watching him, I found myself getting confused about what Kennedy really looked like, but then astral acid can do that to you. I hope they don't screw him up with too much direction, or that the script by that chughead responsible for THE HAUNTING doesn't blow. To bring a short story to a long close Harry, they snapped up Greenwood, closing with him last night.

Ain't-It-Cool-News