Jim Mutchnik poses at Toronto's Hazelton Hotel on Jan. 21, 2010.J.P. MOCZULSKI
Jim Mutchnik smiles as he points out one deficiency in The Informant! , last fall's movie about the Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. price-fixing conspiracy he tackled in the 1990s when he was a U.S. federal prosecutor. It's a simple casting decision.
The film, based on the 2000 book by Kurt Eichenwald, gets most of the details right, says Mr. Mutchnik, who is slim and short. But he is portrayed by character actor Jayden Lund. And Mr. Lund is a beefy 6 foot 4.
For artistic reasons, director Steven Soderbergh did not allow his actors to meet their real-life counterparts before shooting (including star Matt Damon, who plays ADM executive and snitch Mark Whitacre).
But on Mr. Mutchnik's 45th birthday, his wife arranged for Mr. Lund to surprise her husband with a phone call.
"He said, 'Hi, this is Jay Lund.' Right. Seriously. Get serious, man. … And he said, 'No, this Jay Lund, I played you in the movie. I'm the guy who weighs 300 pounds [and is]6 foot 4, and I know that you're not.'" Mr. Lund explained that he was a stand-in for the actor originally cast to play Mr. Mutchnik, Mike O'Malley, who left before the filming for a role on the TV comedy Glee.
"He actually looks like me," Mr. Mutchnik said of Mr. O'Malley. "Most of the people in the movie, they look like the guy. They did a very good job. Except for me."
Despite their David-and-Goliath physical differences, Mr. Mutchnik says Mr. Lund did a fine job in the film. And it's not like Mr. Mutchnik was hoping to be played by Brad Pitt. "Most of the actors are way too short, that I would have picked for myself," he said. "… I get stuff like Joseph Fiennes, Kevin Pollack ... anybody short and small and bald."