“I couldn’t turn down an offer, especially since it was shooting in Richmond, which was like a half-hour from home,” Billy Campbell told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette regarding his initial hesitation before playing Abraham Lincoln.
That accidental role in the 2013 docudrama “Killing Lincoln” has now turned into something much larger for the 67-year-old actor. On Nov. 18-19, Campbell will step back into the top hat to reenact President Abraham Lincoln’s historic 1863 journey to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, as part of an American 250th celebration, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.
Steaming Back to Gettysburg
The two-day living history event opens with a precise recreation of the sixteenth president’s arrival. Campbell will pull into the Gettysburg Railway Station aboard a steam engine at 3 p.m. on Nov. 18, followed by a short walk through Lincoln Square to the David Wills House.
The schedule continues the following morning with a 10 a.m. procession down Baltimore Street toward the Soldiers’ National Cemetery, where roughly 3,500 Union soldiers rest. Around 2 p.m. that day, Campbell will deliver the 272-word Gettysburg Address.
For Campbell, the project marks a full-circle moment rooted in a childhood spent roaming the battlefields of Charlottesville, Virginia. Growing up where more than 40 percent of the Civil War’s battles were fought left a permanent mark. As a teenager, after being a Civil War reenactor in his hometown, he joined the ranks as a member of the 19th Virginia Rifles, an experience that ultimately nudged him toward a professional acting career.
From The Rocketeer to Executive Clemsons
Decades before playing the commander-in-chief, Campbell built a diverse resume spanning stage and screen. He earned a Golden Globe nomination for his work as Rick Sammler on “Once and Again,” starred as Detective Joey Indelli on “Crime Story,” and captured pop-culture fame in 1991 as the title hero in Disney’s “The Rocketeer.”
Yet portraying Lincoln required shedding Hollywood polish in favor of raw authenticity. Preparing for the 2013 National Geographic film, Campbell walked the streets of Richmond in ill-fitting shoes that raised blisters simply to shatter his own self-consciousness. Following the advice of comedian George Burns that acting is all about honesty, he focused on portraying Lincoln as a genuine man struggling to connect with those around him.
When an audience member at a 2023 anniversary event for the movie “Gettysburg”—in which Campbell played a fictional 20th Maine soldier—asked if he would ever wear the beard and tall hat again, the idea took root.
“And I started thinking about it, and was like, well, why not? It put a little bee in my bonnet,” Campbell told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “How can you not be in love with the guy?”
Preparing for the 2025 Invitation
Andrew Dalton of Gettysburg History reached out to Campbell in March 2025 about participating in the upcoming commemoration, an invitation the actor accepted immediately.
“He’s a genuinely kind, thoughtful and incredibly talented actor who brings so much to every role he takes on. I have no doubt he’ll give audiences a performance they won’t forget,” Dalton said, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
A dedicated reader of historian Shelby Foote, he has trimmed his weight down toward Lincoln’s physical frame of roughly 180 pounds. As for the famous speech itself, the actor notes he has known the 272 words by heart since he was 10 years old.
With our country going through some stuff, Campbell believes the speech Lincoln gave on Nov. 19, 1863, carries a particular relevance today.
