their investigation would unfold like a political thriller. and so i thought the part they played in exposing the scandal would make a movie. maybe even a good movie. action. in hollywood terms, woodward and bernstein remember the good guys and their weapon was the written word. did he confirm it? absolutely. tell bradlee. i played bob woodward in the film. carl bernstein was played by dustin hoffman. one of the things i had observed with carl is that he smoked so incessently and carl was always always had ashes on his tie and his shirt. i said that s got to be in the movie. is there any place you don t smoke? 40 years later, the two investigative reporters are back in the washington post newsroom.