The New York Times may have published Joe Wilson’s now famous op-ed “What I Didn’t Find in Africa” (aka evidence that Iraq had purchased uranium yellowcake), but now that Wilson’s life is set to be a major motion picture, only on MTV News will you learn about “Who You Might Find in The Film.”

“I’d love Russell Crowe,” director Doug Liman enthused. “If you’ve met Joe, he’s a really strong guy. I’ve never met an actor stronger than Russell Crowe.”

Concluding in his piece that President George W. Bush either lied about or twisted intelligence to exaggerate the Iraqi threat in the weeks and months leading up to war, Wilson soon found himself the target of attack, which crested a week after the original article’s publication when “Washington Post” columnist Robert Novak outed Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame, as a covert CIA agent.

The Plame Affair became a major political scandal, eventually resulting in the conviction of Dick Cheney staffer Scooter Libby on four felony counts. And it’s that fallout, and specifically Valerie herself, that the Liman flick will center on, the director told MTV News in February, when he revealed that Nicole Kidman would be his star.

He has his Valerie, but a strong Joe is just as important to the overall story, Liman said, which is why he’s extra eager to bring in Crowe.

“It’s the Valerie Plame story but you wouldn’t know it when Joe’s around,” Liman insisted. “I met with [Russell] for ‘Bourne Identity’ and I was terrified. The whole time I was in the room with him I was just scared of him. This is a scary dude! And Joe is kind of like that.”

But why the Plame story at all, especially this soon? Because Plame’s memoir was entitled “Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House,” and words like “betrayal” just don’t go far enough, Liman argued.

“Valerie Plame is the lowpoint in American history,” he said. “That we did this to one of our own heroes.”

Do Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman make a good pair in your estimation? Could you see Crowe as Joe Wilson? And do you agree with Liman about the story’s tragic import? Sound off below.