Former Edwards aide Andrew Young signs with top agent

Former John Edwards aide Andrew Young, author of the bestselling tell-all “The Politician,” said Tuesday that he has signed with Hollywood superagent Ari Emanuel and is looking forward to being portrayed in a movie.

“When they ask who’d play me, I say Danny DeVito,” Young, 43, said at a book signing in Durham, N.C.

In 2007, Young claimed he was the father of the baby Edwards fathered with Rielle Hunter, who broke her four-year silence about her affair with the former Democratic vice presidential nominee in the April issue of GQ.

Young’s book chronicles his decade of work as Edwards’ closest aide, which included months on the run -- with his wife, his three young children and a pregnant Hunter -- to protect Edwards’ reputation as he pursued the Democratic presidential nomination in 2007 and 2008.

After denying paternity on national TV, Edwards admitted he fathered the girl two weeks before “The Politician” came out last month.

Young and his wife, Cheri, a pediatric nurse, met with Emanuel a couple of weeks ago in Los Angeles, said Cheri Young. They were told, she said, that there is “significant interest” in making their story into a film.

Andrew Young told his Durham audience that he spent 8 1/2 hours testifying before a federal grand jury about payments made to Hunter and the Youngs. The grand jury, Young said, is investigating whether campaign laws were broken.

robin.abcarian

@latimes.com