Crushable » casting

Rooney Mara Replaces Blake Lively In New Steven Soderbergh Film

Jamie Peck — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:13:09 +0000

Steven Soderbergh‘s new addiction film Side Effects has replaced Blake Lively with Rooney Mara in the leading role, following finance problems triggered by the fact that Lively isn’t Oscar-y enough.

Mara will play a pill-addicted young woman who uses various prescriptions to deal with her anxiety over her husband’s impending release from prison. Following her Oscar-nominated turn in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Mara is almost definitely a better bet to play such a dark role, but I’m still sad I won’t get to see Serena Van Der Woodsen‘s hair and makeup go to shit as she rides the waves of various chemical highs.

According to Deadline, it’s still uncertain whether this casting decision will be enough to get the previously gun shy Annapurna Pictures to finance it, but given the named involved, I’m sure someone will step in to provide the cast. Shooting is scheduled to begin in April.

(Via Vulture)

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Mary-Louise Parker To Replace Demi Moore As Gloria Steinem In Lovelace

Jamie Peck — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:19:43 +0000

Following her hospitalization for “exhaustion,” Demi Moore has reportedly been replaced in the role of feminist leader Gloria Steinem in 70s porn biopic Lovelace by fellow ageless beauty Mary Louise Parker.

According to Us Weekly, the film was left looking for a new Gloria Steinem after Moore dropped out earlier this week, and Parker fit the bill. I know it’s hard to keep the two bipoics straight, so I’ll remind you that this is the one that stars Amanda Seyfried as the troubled porn star and never tarnished its name by casting Lindsay Lohan. Gloria Steinem will not play a major part in the film, but is an important (and largely beloved) historical figure whom I imagine most actresses would be excited to play.

My first thought on hearing this news, as well as the previous news Moore would play her, was to be annoyed that someone so glamorous was being tapped for this part. Not only that, but Parker has made a name for herself on Weeds playing a selfish character with little political consciousness who gladly engages in gender normative behavior to get what she wants. But a closer look shows that Parker does bear a passing resemblance to Steinem, and you pretty much have to be glamorous to be a Hollywood actress, so there’s not much to be done about that. It’s also kind of weird that only actresses 10+ years older than Steinem was when Deepthroat came out are being cast in the role, but the 47-year-old Parker could probably pass for 38. I guess they’re accounting for the difference in aging between a regular person, and an actress who devotes lots of time and money to looking as young as possible for as long as possible.

(Via Us Weekly)

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They Are Making A Nerd Version Of The Jersey Shore

Jamie Peck — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 16:35:54 +0000

Hey, nerd! Yeah, you with the glasses and the twenty-sided die and the…other things a nerd likes. If you admire the sensitive portrayal of human relationships seen on The Jersey Shore and wish there was a show like that for you, you’re in luck. The Jersey Shore‘s producers are casting for a new reality show, and they are looking for the nerdliest nerds they can find.

The casting notice reads as follows:

Doron Ofir Casting and 495 Productions is proud to launch the search for the most passionately obsessed, proudly self-identified pop culture fanatics from the worlds of comics, graphic novels, sci-fi, anime, manga, video games, toys, movies, and television.

FANDOM RISING will boldly go where no fanboy or fangirl has gone before! If you are a guy or girl who gets all the references in “The Big Bang Theory,” quotes the Original Trilogy, revels in spotting Cylons among us, joins the horde, wishes to attend Hogwarts, Starfleet Academy, or Xavier’s School for the Gifted, and reveres masters of science fiction and fantasy — this is the show for you!!!.

You are officially being summoned for an experimental documentary series that takes a deeper look at the lives and relationships of people who love fantasy, fiction, cosplay, comics, gaming and science.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… men and women were free to create their own universes, passionately collect their obsessions, and proudly celebrate their eccentricities without any persecution from their peers. Now it’s time for the nerds to once again have their revenge, and show just why it’s the geeks who shall inherit the Earth,” Doron Ofir, President.

FANDOM RISING is currently looking for those who value brains over brawn, substance over status quo, and march to the beat of their own cantina band. If your life is filled with the exquisite, the extraordinary and the exceptional, you are officially being summoned to join the Fandom Rising!

And here’s my favorite part:

You may live on “an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of the universe,” within a wrinkle in time, playing out a game of thrones and living within the romance of love with the undead, but you make the most out of it. Your life is filled with the exquisite, the extraordinary, the exceptional … whether you’re ridiculed or respected for it, your time has come.

It’s like they played Mad Libs with a random nerd buzzword generator. They forgot to reference Lord Of The Rings!

I’m morbidly curious as to how they will sex this show up…they’re going to have to plant some serious agent provocateurs to keep each episode from being an hour of watching people eat chips and play Dungeons and Dragons. Where will they have the nerds live? And will they replace the hot tub with a tub of liquid space plasma? So many questions.

Anyway, if this sounds like your thing, here’s the online application. Go forth and famewhore.

(Via Blastr)

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Amanda Seyfried In Talks To Star In Linda Lovelace Biopic

Jamie Peck — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:26:49 +0000

What is it about the Hollywood collective unconscious that causes multiples of the same movie to get made at the same time? Just in the last little while, we’ve had news of multiple Snow Whites and multiple Jeff Buckley movies, as well as multiple Linda Lovelace biopics.

There’s been news of a few different Lovelace scripts floating around for a while now, but it seems one is head (heh) and shoulders above the rest, both in terms of the talent attached, and how close it is to actually getting made. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lovelace, a film based on the biography The Complete Linda Lovelace (published in 2001, a year before she died), is set to be directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. Seyfried is currently in talks to star in it, and Peter Sarsgaard (not to be confused with A-Skars) is in talks to play her abusive pornographer husband, Chuck Traynor. Legions of the fresh-faced young actress’ creepy fans just got really, really excited.

Seyfried might seem like an odd choice to play a downward-spiraling porn star, as she’s still primarily known for playing sweet and innocent characters like Sarah on Big Love, but she’s a good enough actress that I’m sure she’ll convince us. Furthermore, she has already played a crazy hooker in Chloe (opposite Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore) and she was great.

It would seem this is shaping up to be the slightly more highbrow of the two competing Linda Lovelace projects; Inferno: A Linda Lovelace Story is reportedly going to star Malin Akerman (who is more of a model than an actress, at this point) and Matt Dillon. This is also the project that hired and fired Lindsay Lohan a bunch of times, so yes, points off for that.

May the most depressing Linda Lovelace biopic win!

(Via Variety)

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Leprechauns and Catfights: Ryan Murphy Reveals How the Glee Project Finalists Fit Into Glee Season 3

Natalie Zutter — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 17:22:17 +0000

Even though The Glee Project announced two winners — Damian McGinty and Sam Larsen – Glee creator Ryan Murphy tells THR that the two runners-up will also get to appear in at least one episode of season 3. He’s already worked out many of the specifics around their guest spots. (If you’re a spoiler-phobe, you probably won’t like any of this, but it doesn’t give away any big twists.)

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Exclusive: MTV Uses A Cartoon From Almost Ten Years Ago To Try To Cast “Hipstras”

Jamie Peck — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 14:32:59 +0000

When New York Shitty posted this photo of an MTV casting notice snapped in Greenpoint yesterday, I did a double take. In addition to using embarrassing terminology (“hipstra” sounds like some sort of record collecting she-demon), it contains two images that are almost a decade old.

The first is easily identifiable as “Hipster Bingo.” I’m not sure when it was created, but I remember looking at it as a college freshman in 2003, so I know it’s at least eight years old. PBR! Ironic mustaches! Trucker hats! Blogger with a digital camera! (Isn’t that everyone now?) A purse with a skull on it? As a document of the shift people were making from emo/punk/college rock subcultures to something more, uh, hip circa 2002, it’s great. As something that we’re supposed to look at and sincerely identify with in 2011, it’s not so great. Although, as my friend Sam noted, many of the more basic things on it can still be seen around Williamsburg. “Is it weird that hipster things from 2003 or thereabouts are mostly still the same today?” he asked. “Have we reached the End of History?” I don’t think so, but maybe we’re getting close.

The other image was actually drawn by a friend of mine, Carter Adams, for the student humor paper we worked on together in college. His other cartoons for The Fed included the uber-dark Catch As Catch Can and the somewhat autobiographical Guide To Your Columbia Nervous Breakdown. Dude had skills. (Probably still does.) When reached for comment on the flier, he had this to say:

I’m ok with it. I continue to be amused by the legs on that cartoon. It’s been the top image result for “hipster” off and on for years on google. I wish I’d had a few more drawing lessons when I made it. If they were using it in the actual show, I’d want some credit, but if it’s just a casting poster, I’m content to sit back and let my sole contribution to culture keep making the rounds.

So, what have we learned from all this? Culture is stagnating, MTV is out of touch, and whatever intern was assigned to make that flier was lazy enough to use the first two results for “hipster” on Google image search. Do not try to absorb all of these Earth shattering revelations at once. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a lucrative extra job to apply to.

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Brad Pitt Needs to Stop Taking Roles That Don’t Fit Him

Natalie Zutter — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 14:38:51 +0000

Brad Pitt has something of a “finders, keepers” thing going on with several upcoming film projects: Just because his production company Plan B picks up a project, doesn’t mean that Pitt is the best choice for the lead role. He’s matched himself to the unlikely part of the narrator of World War Z, and now the Latino priest from The Sparrow.

World War Z is a tricky one to tackle because technically there isn’t a main character in the book. The novel is an oral history of the zombie war, and the reader assumes that someone resembling author Max Brooks is the reporter who conducted all of these interviews. Pitt doesn’t look much like Brooks, who inherited dad Mel‘s coloring and deadpan expression.

Then again, it appears that the screenplay has built in a narrator: The character of Gerry Lane, who has no physical description. At the left is a recent set photo of Pitt sporting something of a dystopian look: Apparently long hair and scarves survive the zombie apocalypse. Those who didn’t read the book shouldn’t have any disconnect seeing Pitt as Gerry, but I’ll be curious to see if the people who, like me, envisioned Max Brooks will be thrown off.

Where I’m really steamed is the case of The Sparrow. You may not have heard of this sci-fi novel from the 1990s, but I recommend you pick it up immediately. It’s a cautionary tale about colonialism which challenges the notion of faith (so of course I’m biased in liking it): A Jesuit-funded mission of several astronauts and a priest investigate life on another planet, only for things to go horribly awry. Pitt plans to play the main character, Emilio Sandoz, a Jesuit priest who at the beginning of the novel has been tortured and wrenched away from his faith.

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Willow Shields Cast As Primrose Everdeen in ‘The Hunger Games’

Natalie Zutter — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:53:44 +0000

The latest Hunger Games casting news doesn’t concern one of the 24 tributes, but it’s a very pivotal character: Primrose Everdeen, Katniss’ younger sister who originally gets chosen for the Hunger Games. Katniss’ decision to take her place spurs into motion the events of the first book (and really, the whole trilogy).

Lionsgate has cast another unknown, Willow Shields, to play vulnerable young Prim. Shields — who is a dead ringer for Soul Surfer star AnnaSophia Robb — has appeared in the USA series In Plain Sight; in a fantastic bit of timing, her TV movie Beyond the Blackboard airs on CBS this Sunday.

For the record, we had Samara from The Ring playing Prim in our “opposite day” Hunger Games casting gallery.

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Jack Quaid and Leven Rambin Cast As Marvel and Glimmer in ‘The Hunger Games’

Natalie Zutter — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 18:54:22 +0000

District 1 has its tributes: Jack Quaid (son of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan) and Leven Rambin (Sloan’s daughter Sloan on Grey’s Anatomy) will play Marvel and Glimmer in The Hunger Games. In the series, District 1 is one of the richer districts because it manufactures luxury goods for the Capitol. In keeping with the lush lifestyle, the children receive strange names. But don’t think they’re softies: Katniss nicknames the District 1 tributes “Careers” because of how they band together during training. Of course, there can be only one champion.

Quaid doesn’t seem to have much acting experience, though of course he comes from an impressive pedigree. Rambin got her start on All My Children and has made recurring appearances on CSI: Miami, One Tree Hill, and Grey’s. Rumor has it that Elizabeth Banks will be joining the cast as the effusive Effie Trinket, Katniss and Peeta’s handler, but we’ll report separately on that if it’s confirmed.

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Dayo Okeniyi and Amandla Stenberg Cast As Thresh and Rue in ‘The Hunger Games’

Natalie Zutter — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 20:32:47 +0000

Lionsgate has just announced the two newest members of The Hunger Games cast: Dayo Okeniyi and Amandla Stenberg will play Thresh and Rue, District 11′s tributes. Both are unknowns; Okeniyi has appeared in two indie projects, and Stenberg did some dubbing work for movies like Why Did I Get Married Too? Thresh and Rue represent the agriculture-centered District 11, located somewhere in what used to be the South. (I guess our “opposite day” pick of Noah Cyrus for Rue didn’t make the cut…)

Lionsgate’s Facebook page has a chart filling in the 24 tributes — since the majority of the book’s action takes place in the Arena, be prepared to see a lot of young faces. However, the book only focuses on a handful of tributes, the ones whose names are marked on the chart: Katniss, Peeta, Thresh, Rue, Cato, Clove, Foxface, Glimmer, and Marvel. The other spots will likely be filled by extras.

Check back with us for more Hunger Games casting news!

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