Jared Harris cast in Spielberg's Lincoln

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He'll play Ulyssess S Grant

Mad Men 's Jared Harris has joined the impressive cast list of Steven Spielberg's political biopic Lincoln .

The British actor will play Ulysses S Grant, the Union army general who goes on to become the 18th President of the good ol' U S of A.

Lincoln is based on the bestselling book Team Of Rivals by Pulitzer prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin.

The film is expected to focus particularly on the final months of Lincoln's life, covering his involvement in the abolition of slavery and the end of the Civil War, rather than being a more sweeping biography.

Harris is cast alongside Daniel Day-Lewis, who is set to take on the lead role of Abe himself. Lincoln will also star Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and John Hawkes.

The biopic is due to be released in late 2012, no doubt hoping to rally an award nomination or two.

Jared Harris can next be seen playing Professor Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows , which opens on December 16 2011.