BAFTA 2012 longlist surprises include Alexandra Roach, Eddie Redmayne, Bryce Dallas Howard

January 6, 2012 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Awards Leave a comment

The BAFTA Awards are Britain’s Oscar equivalent, and the release today of the 2012 Longlist is an exciting look at which actors, films and directors the BAFTA members have enjoyed this year.

The usual suspects have turned up in the categories of Best Film, Director, Original and Adapted Screenplay, but the big surprise comes in the form of Steve McQueen’s exclusion in the Best Film and Director categories for “Shame”, his stark and frank look at sex addiction.
One pleasant surprise however is the inclusion of Mia Wasikowska for her leading role in “Jane Eyre”, a performance that UpandComers have been championing.

Other surprise rising stars that have been included are Alexandra Roach (“The Iron Lady”), Jonah Hill (“Moneyball”), Eddie Redmayne (“My Week With Marilyn”) and Bryce Dallas Howard (“The Help”), alongside those we have come to expect – Michael Fassbender, Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, Rooney Mara, Jessica Chastain and Shailene Woodley.

Final nominations will be announced on Tuesday 17 January, along with hopefully the BAFTA Rising Star shortlist, and all winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on Sunday 12 February.

Click below for BAFTA’s announcement and explanation for how voting works amongst members, as well as the full longlist of acting nominations. Click here for the entire PDF longlist.

Watch: First trailer for Elizabeth Olsen’s other Sundance movie, “Silent House”

January 5, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Videos Leave a comment

While Elizabeth Olsen has been receiving raves for “Martha Marcy May Marlene”, which debuted at Sundance exactly one year ago and which sees Olsen playing a paranoid and tormented young woman, it seems to be a much less talked about fact that she actually stunned the Sundance audience with two performances in two different films. It seems like there’s a lot of parallels to draw between her cult escapee in “Martha Marcy” and Sarah, the young woman at the center of “Silent House”, which will finally see a theatrical release this March. A remake of a Portugese cult horror classic and supposedly based on a real story, “Silent House” sees Olsen’s character arrive at a desolate lakeside cabin with the intention of fixing it up before it goes on the sale market. Told in real time and using one, extremely long take that encompasses the entire movie, the movie follows Sarah’s attempt to leave the house and the many ghostly obstacles that stand in her way.

“Silent House”, directed by the duo behind “Open Water”, opens on March 9, 2012.

British actor Aneurin Barnard to romance Kaya Scodelario in “Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes”

January 5, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Casting on indie drama “Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes” is quickly firming up, with Variety reporting today that four new actors have signed on for supporting roles in the film that stars Kaya Scodelario and Jessica Biel. Alfred Molina, Frances O’Connor, Jimmi Simpson and relative newcomer Aneurin Barnard have joined the cast and will begin filming later this month under the direction of Francesca Gregorini.

Scodelario plays the titular 17-year-old Emanuel, whose creepy neighbor Linda (Biel) wheels around a “baby” that’s just a very life-like doll. Emanuel befriends and agrees to babysit the “baby” because Linda looks exactly like Emanuel’s own mother, who’s deceased. Molina and O’Connor will play Emanuel’s father and stepmother, while Simpson will be Linda’s co-worker. Barnard will be Emanuel’s love interest.

Barnard, a virtual unknown hailing from England, has had supporting roles in films like “Powder” and the recent “Ironclad”, but who people may still remember from being one of the finalists for Bryan Singer’s “Jack the Giant Killer”, a role that eventually went to Nicholas Hoult. Barnard will next be seen in psychological drama “Trap for Cinderella” opposite fellow British rising star Alexandra Roach.

Joel Edgerton, Jessica Chastain and more in for Kathryn Bigelow’s “Kill Bin Laden”

January 5, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

UPDATE: Deadline reports Jessica Chastain, Edgar Ramirez and Mark Strong are now all negotiating to join the cast as well. Chastain could very well play the female reporter embedded with the team. Meanwhile, it looks like her commitment to Tom Cruise sci-fi epic “Oblivion” is now in question as these two projects will film around the same time.

Here’s a story that’s come completely full circle. We first heard about Aussie rising star Joel Edgerton starring in Kathryn Bigelow’s “Kill Bin Laden” back in May, but nothing was finalized and by the time Novemeber rolled around, it appeared his increasingly busy schedule would prevent his involvement and he had been replaced by fellow Aussie Jason Clarke in the lead role. Well, not exactly. Today Variety reveals that indeed, Edgerton will star in the film, with a finalized deal to boot, and Clarke is still on board as well.

One person who Variety says is definitely out is “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” star Rooney Mara, who had been circling the role of a female reporter embedded with the Navy SEAL team eventually tasked with killing Osama Bin Laden. Her “Dragon Tattoo” promotional schedule has prevented her involvement. Meanwhile, there is no word on which of the other names mentioned to be circling the project in recent months – Tom Hardy, Chris Pratt, Idris Elba, Nina Arianda and Jennifer Ehle – have signed on or dropped out. Filming is set to begin next month and is aiming for an Oscar-friendly Dec. 19, 2012 release.

Edgerton caught Hollywood’s attention when he starred in 2010 Australian crime drama “Animal Kingdom”, and his career has been on an exponentially upward swinging trajectory since, with 2012 looking like his biggest breakout moment yet. He’ll head to Sundance for Australian thriller “Wish You Were Here” opposite Teresa Palmer and with this new casting, will seemingly be a big part of next year’s Oscar season, as he will also be seen as Tom Buchanan in Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby”, also releasing in December.

Santa Barbara Film Festival to present Rooney Mara, Shailene Woodley and more with Virtuosos Award

January 5, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Awards 1 Comment

As awards season rolls on towards Oscar, the Santa Barbara Film Festival jumps into the fray to honor some standout performances of the year. The six recipients have all garnered critical praise and are all deserving of awards attention, but let’s face it, they all seem to be longshots for that elusive Oscar, so it’s nice to see them get rewarded for their brilliant work elsewhere. Via press release: “The actors who were selected to be recognized for their exceptional performances are: Demián Bichir for his earnest portrayal as Carlos, a virtuous father struggling to provide for his son in A Better Life; Rooney Mara for her dark and provocative performance as Lisbeth Salander in David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Melissa McCarthy for her role as the hilariously outspoken Megan in Bridesmaids; Patton Oswalt for masterfully navigating between the realms of comedy and drama as Matt Freehauf in Young Adult; Andy Serkis for stepping into the mind and body of an ape through his master of performance-capture technology in his role as Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes; and Shailene Woodley for bringing an emotional complexity to a character rarely seen at her age as Alexandra in The Descendants.”

Part breakout, part performance, the Virtuoso Award went to Lesley Manville, John Hawkes, Jacki Weaver and Hailee Steinfeld last year, three out of four of whom actually did go on to score Oscar nominations. This year’s recipients will be fetted on Friday, February 3rd. Other stars being honored by the Festival include Viola Davis, who gets the Performer of the Year award while Christopher Plummer will receive the Modern Master award.

Emma Stone to drive a cocaine-stashed “Little White Corvette”

January 5, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

Emma Stone remains one of the busiest and most in demand young actresses around and continues to build a nicely diverse portfolio of roles, with Deadline now reporting she has attached herself to star in “Little White Corvette”, a drug deal comedy written by “30 Minutes or Less” scribe Michael Diliberti.

Stone will play a wild young woman who, along with her nerdy little brother, travel to Miami to try and sell a million dollar stash of cocaine that they find in their late father’s car. Stone has been circling the project since last summer and shooting is expected to begin in late summer, though no director has jumped on board yet.

Stone caught Hollywood’s attention in her 2007 breakout role in “Superbad” and then in 2009′s “Zombieland”, but it was “Easy A” that showed her true movie star potential and landed her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress to boot. This year, she headlined rom-com “Crazy Stupid Love” and Civil Rights era drama “The Help”, an Oscar front-runner in several categories. She recently wrapped up the role of Gwen Stacy in Marc Webb’s “The Amazing Spider-Man” and is currently shooting period mob drama “Gangster Squad”, reuniting with “Crazy” co-star Ryan Gosling. Stone is also attached to romanic comedy “He’s Fuckin’ Perfect” but that appears to still be in the early stages.

Liam Hemsworth set for heist thriller “Empire State”

January 5, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

Aussie up and comer Liam Hemsworth sure is doing his best to establish himself as an action star. Deadline reports Hemsworth is closing a deal to star in “Empire State”, a bank heist thriller that will co-star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, whose career it seems Hemsworth wouldn’t mind emulating.

Filming will begin in April on “the true story of a 1982 NYC armored car company robbery thought at the time to be the largest cash heist in U.S. history.” Hemsworth will play Chris while Johnson’s character is Ransone. No further plot or character details are available. Dito Montiel will direct from a script by Adam Mazer.

Hemsworth, who is about to have a big breakout moment in a couple of months when he stars as Gale Hawthorne opposite Jennifer Lawrence in “The Hunger Games”, the first in a trilogy – with the sequel already set for release in 2013. He also recently completed work on indie war drama “AWOL” and tesosterone-fueled actioner “The Expendables 2.” While he may take a break from the action to do a love story called “Timeless”, he’s still full speed ahead pursuing an action career, with “Die Hard 5″ possibly on the horizon as well.

Lily Collins: from Snow White to drug addict in “Evil Dead” remake

January 4, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Looks like Lily Collins is getting to that stage in her career where she wants to start distancing herself from that kid-friendly, good-girl image that’s made her a rapidly rising star in the last couple of years. Bloody Disgusting reports the actress is the first to sign on to the remake of Sam Raimi horror classic “Evil Dead”, and she will be playing an ex-drug addict whose past erratic behavior makes her something of an unreliable “girl who cried demonic monsters” to her friends.

Raimi wrote the script for the new take on his original film, and this time five friends – David, Natalie, Eric, Olivia, and Mia – vacation in a remote cabin in the woods and discover a Book of the Dead, which unleashes an evil demonic force that possesses each of them until only one is left to survive. David and Natalie are engaged, while Collins’ Mia is an ex-drug addict hoping to detox in the cabin. Olivia is her best friend while Eric is the one who unleashes the demons upon the group. Collins’ Mia is recovering from a recent overdose and has trouble convincing people when she begins seeing weird stuff again this time around. Diablo Cody did revisions on the script and Fede Alvarez will direct.

Collins, daughter of Phil Collins, made her big screen debut in 2009′s Sandra Bullock Oscar contender “The Blind Side” and has been on an upward swinging career trajectory ever since. She headlines Tarsem Singh’s Snow White redo “Mirror Mirror” in March and has long been attached to the lead in potential teen genre franchise “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.” She recently completed work opposite Michael Anagarano and Julianne Moore in indie dramedy “The English Teacher.”

Country singer Taylor Swift offered the role of Eponine in “Les Miserables”

January 3, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 24 Comments

Well, that was fast. Literally minutes after we learned that Amanda Seyfried has been offered the role of Cosette in Tom Hooper’s big screen adaptation of “Les Miserables”, Twitch Film breaks even more big news, reporting that country singer Taylor Swift has emerged as Hooper’s choice and has the offer to take the role of Eponine. If earlier reports are to be believed, Swift beat out Evan Rachel Wood, Scarlett Johansson and “Glee” star Lea Michele for the role, quite a coup for the singer who has only dabbled briefly in acting – and not all that successfully.

Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Sacha Baron Cohen and Anne Hathaway have signed on for the “adult” roles in the musical, and now it seems the cast is rounding out with youngsters who will populate the second half of the story. Fans and even non-fans of the musical know Eponine is a pivotal character in that climactic second act, as the poor street urchin who befriends and falls for Eddie Redmayne’s Marius, and more importantly, sings perhaps the most famous song from the musical, “On My Own.” Swift has her critics, for both singing and acting alike, but certainly being so young and new (especially to acting) lends credence to the conclusion that she has some hidden potential that Hooper was able to elicit from her during auditions. If she accepts, she will join an impressive cast of up and comers that also includes Broadway vet Aaron Tveit as Enjolras.

Swift has had two hit country/pop albums and countless music awards under her belt, but as an actress, has only appeared on one episode of “CSI” and in a supporting role in Gary Marshall’s ensemble rom-com “Valentine’s Day”, which is the source of much of the derision for her acting abilities. She has also voiced a role in the next Dr. Seuss movie, “The Lorax”. Certainly, there is much room for growth and the potential to surprise.

“Les Miserables” begin rehearsals this month and filming in March. It has a sooner-than-you-think release date of December 7, 2012.

UPDATED: Amanda Seyfried in final negotiations for Cosette in Tom Hooper’s “Les Miserables”

January 3, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

UPDATE: Deadline updates that Seyfried is now in final negotiations, so it looks like we have our Cosette!

One of the last two pieces in the “Les Miserables” casting puzzle may finally be falling into place. Despite reports that Tom Hooper was having a hard time finding a well-known young actress who had the vocal chops to pull off the role of Cosette, and had actually began to hold open casting calls, Twitch Film now reports it is indeed someone quite familiar to moviegoing audiences who has been offered the role. Amanda Seyfried, who has some experience headlining big screen musicals after playing the lead in “Mamma Mia!” opposite Meryl Streep in 2008, may play the sheltered daughter of Anne Hathaway’s Fantine and love interest to Eddie Redmayne’s student revolutionary Marius.

Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe will play escaped convict Jean Valjean and police inspector Javert, respectively, the lifelong rivalry at the heart of the international blockbuster musical, based on the novel by Victor Hugo. In the latter part of their lives, they become embroiled in the onset of a revolution led by the charismatic and idealistic Enjolras, to be played by Broadway star Aaron Tveit. With Seyfried’s potential casting, one last lead role remains to be filled: that of the tragic street urchin Eponine, who is in unrequited love with Redmayne’s Marius. Last we heard, four actresses were in the running for the part: Evan Rachel Wood, Scarlett Johansson, Lea Michele and Taylor Swift. With rehearsals beginning this month and filming set for March, things will hopefully firm up soon.

Seyfried will have to do her own signing, just like the rest of the cast, which shouldn’t be a problem for the actress, who has studied opera and taken voice lessons. She’s contributed songs to the soundtracks of some of her movies, including – but of course – “Mamma Mia!”, “Dear John” and “Red Riding Hood.” Most recently seen opposite Justin Timberlake in sci-fi thriller “In Time”, Seyfried will soon begin filming on “Lovelace”, one of two competing biopics about famous porn star Linda Lovelace.

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