NYT’s Friedman to Make Movie Debut

As if New York Times columnist and best-selling author Tom Friedman wasn’t famous enough, he’s about to make his movie debut as well.

Friedman will have a minor role in a movie about his hometown, the Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis Park, produced by Ethan and Joel Coen, the four-time Academy Award-winning movie producers, who also hail from St. Louis Park.

Friedman, whose 2005 book, “The World Is Flat,” made him a guru of global competitiveness, has just published his fifth book, “Hot, Flat and Crowded,” touting the need for a green revolution.

Friedman says the Coen brothers asked him to play “a walk-on role” in the soon-to-be-made film about their hometown. He didn’t say if it will bear any resemblance to “Fargo,” another Coen brothers film that painted a less-than-flattering portrait of the North Dakota city.

–Al Eisele