Mr. Grant and Mr. Stalin

This is Ed Asner speaking:

“I think Joe Stalin was a guy that was hugely misunderstood. And to this day, I don’t think I have ever seen an adequate job done of telling the story of Joe Stalin, so I guess my answer would have to be Joe Stalin.” – actor, Ed Asner, responding to the question, “If you had the chance to play the biographical story of a historical figure you respected most over your lifetime, who would it be?”

From www.andrewsullivan.com.

Addendum: The original source modifies his account, it looks much less bad for Asner than originally reported.