Director Roger Mitchell spent an entire year trying to court the reclusive Bill Murray into starring in his FDR biopic Hyde Park on the Hudson. The actor, notorious for his unresponsiveness to script inquiries and studio calls, eventually got back to him. In text form. "Yes, I'll do it."

And do it he did, as USA Today gives us a sneak peek into the making of the film and our first look at Murray in character. The movie chronicles King George VI and Queen Elizabeth's 1939 visit to Roosevelt's home in upstate New York, a time when the President was knee deep in an affair with his cousin Daisy (played in the film by Laura Linney). Murray sure looks the part in this first snapshot, and according to the article, he went to great lengths to study Roosevelt as well as polio victims to further embody the political figure.

He may not like returning phone calls, but when he's on, he's on.

Hyde Park on the Hudson should arrive in theaters sometime in 2012.