Eddie Redmayne to Play Stephen Hawking in Biopic “Theory of Everything”

June 13, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

eddie-redmayne British actor Eddie Redmayne has become increasingly in demand thanks to his breakout role as Marius in Tom Hooper’s “Les Miserables.” Deadline reports Redmayne has landed the role of genius physicist Stephen Hawking in biopic “Theory of Everything”, which James Marsh is set to direct. Deadline also reports Redmayne is also being sought for Thomas Vinterberg’s adaptation of “Far From the Madding Crowd” opposite Carey Mulligan and Matthias Schoenaerts, but believes Redmayne’s priority will be the Hawking biopic.

Filming is set to begin in early fall with Redmayne as the British physicist who grew up in a financially strapped but highly intelligent family. Hawking did not succeed at school as a young boy but always showed an aptitude for science, earning the nickname “Einstein.” He started Oxford at age 17, where he felt isolated for being younger than his classmates and finding the work “ridiculously easy.” After being diagnosed with motor neurone disease at age 21, Hawking fell into depression and only found something to continue living for upon falling in love with Jane Wilde, a friend of his sister’s. They were engaged in 1964 and the film is expected to focus on their relationship.

In “Far From the Madding Crowd”, Mulligan plays a headstrong young woman named Bathsheba and her three suitors: Gabriel, a shepherd (Schoenaerts); William, a rich older farmer; and Troy, a handsome young soldier, through a number of years and dramatic episodes as she grows up and learns what is truly valuable in life. Presumably Redmayne is being sought for the role of Troy, which had once also been linked to Matthew Goode. But “Crowd” also films this fall, so Redmayne’s ability to commit to both films is in question.

Redmayne was one of our Breakout Stars of 2012 thanks to his revelatory and heartbreaking turn as student revolutionary Marius in Tom Hooper’s adaptation of hit musical “Les Miserables”, Oscar nominated for Best Picture last year. He’s already tackled Hardy in BBC miniseries “Tess of the D’Ubervilles” opposite Gemma Arterton, and was the best part of Simon Curtis’ “My Week with Marilyn” opposite Michelle Williams. Redmayne is currently filming the Wachowskis’ sci-fi epic “Jupiter Ascending” with Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis.

Michelle Williams Offered Adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein Musical “South Pacific”

May 9, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

michelle-williams She sang a bit in “My Week with Marilyn” (doing her best breathy whisper-croon) but is Michelle Williams ready to tackle a full scale classic Broadway musical by no less than Rodgers and Hammerstein? British paper The Daily Mail reports Williams has been offered the lead role of Nellie Forbush in a planned big screen adaptation of “South Pacific.”

Set during World War II on a South Pacific island and thematically revolving around issues of race, Williams is being eyed for the role of a young and Naive American nurse who arrives to care for American soldiers but finds herself falling for an older French plantation owner. Their love is tested by her racial prejudices and inability to accept his mixed race children from a prior marriage. Meanwhile, young American soldier Lt. Joseph Cable finds love with a Polynesian girl, but also rejects her knowing his conservative family would never allow an interracial marriage. Michael Mayer is attached to direct from a script by Lynn Grossman, but the film is still in the early stages and has no official green light yet. A commitment from Williams would certainly help, and Daily Mail furthers that someone like Justin Timberlake is being eyed for the role of Cable, adding more starpower to the cast.

Williams graduated “Dawson’s Creek” to become a three-time Oscar nominee (for “Brokeback Mountain”, “Blue Valentine” and “My Week with Marilyn”) and was recently seen in her first major studio blockbuster, “Oz the Great and Powerful.” While “South Pacific” finds its footing, Williams is attached to another WWII romance, “Suite Francaise” opposite Belgian breakout star Matthias Schoenarts, as well as an English-language remake of Italian thriller “The Double Hour.”

Dominic Cooper to Face Off Against Luke Evans’ “Dracula”

May 8, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

dominic-cooper British actor Dominic Cooper is in talks to join Luke Evans and Sarah Gadon in origin tale “Dracula”, according to Variety.

Gary Shore is making his directorial debut on the long-gestating project formerly titled “Dracula: Year Zero”, which sees Evans as a young Prince Vlad who offers up his soul to a bloodthirsty sultan in exchange for the lives of his wife (Gadon) and child, and thus becomes the world’s first vampire. There’s no word on who Cooper will play, but with the isolated nature of a character such as Dracula, an adversary of some sort is probably the most logical conclusion. Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless wrote the latest draft of the script and filming will begin soon with a tentpole-friendly August 8th, 2014 release date already set.

This will not be Cooper’s first brush with vampires, as he played one in “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” opposite Benjamin Walker’s axe-wielding 16th President. He was last seen in revenge thriller “Dead Man Down” and the Oscar-nominated “My Week with Marilyn” as well as “Captain America: The First Avenger”, and has recently wrapped shooting on another 2014 potential blockbuster, video game adaptation “Need for Speed” opposite Aaron Paul and Imogen Poots.

“Les Miserables” star Eddie Redmayne joining Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis in sci-fi epic “Jupiter Ascending”

December 17, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

Who knew classically trained British actor Eddie Redmayne, known for doing Shakespeare on stage and currently playing Marius in “Les Miserables”, was so keen to take on a big budget sci-fi franchise? After testing for Marvel properties “The Amazing Spider-Man 2″ (he lost out to Dane DeHaan) and “Guardians of the Galaxy” (result pending), Redmayne has finally found success, landing a role opposite Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis in the Andy and Lana Wackowskis’ next feature, “Jupiter Ascending.”

Variety reports Redmayne is now in negotiations for an unspecified role in the film set in a distant future (or alternate reality) where human beings are no longer the most evolved creatures in the universe, but rather “just the Cro-Magnons, or even the Australopithecines, of what beings can ultimately go on to become in the galaxy.” Far superior beings keep an eye on the lowly humans from far away, and the story centers on Kunis as a Russian immigrant who’s scrubbing toilets for a living, unknowingly carrying some powerful genetic DNA makeup that make her a threat to the literal Queen of the Universe. A bounty hunter (Tatum) is dispatched to kill her, but the two fall in love and go on the run together instead. It’s possible Redmayne has taken the role that was at one point earmarked for Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Filming is set to begin in the first quarter of 2013, which may or may not interfere with Redmayne’s chances at landing the lead role of Star-Lord in Marvel Phase Two pic “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Redmayne was last seen opposite Michelle Williams in her Oscar-nominated turn in “My Week with Marilyn” and will soon be seen as idealistic student revolutionary Marius in Tom Hooper’s big screen adaptation of “Les Miserables.” The role is garnering Redmayne plenty of rave reviews and awards talk, but it appears the British rising star is ready to add that requisite studio genre franchise flick to his resume.

Dominic Cooper joins Noomi Rapace in revenge thriller “Dead Man Down”

April 4, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

Looks like Dominic Cooper is trading in one revenge thriller for another. After dropping out of “Motor City”, which will now star Gerard Butler (downgrade!), Cooper is signing on to original Swedish “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” director Niels Arden Oplev’s “Dead Man Down”, joining original Lisbeth Salander Noomi Rapace and Irish star Colin Farrell in the cast.

It’s a curious switheroo for Cooper, who apparently gave up the leading role in “Motor City” to play second or third fiddle here. Farrell leads the way as a mobster’s hitman who may have been responsible for the death of his own family. He falls for a disfigured former beauty (Rapace) who seems to know too much about his past and the two team up on a violent spree against those who wronged them. Cooper will play Farrell’s partner on the street. Filming begins later this month.

Cooper recently wrapped romantic drama “Summer in February” with Emily Browning and appeared in several of 2011′s biggest movies, including superhero blockbuster “Captain America: The First Avenger”, Sundance hit “The Devil’s Double” and awards contender “My Week with Marilyn.” With “Dead Man Down” scheduled for later this month, Cooper may follow it up with Roger Donaldson’s international thriller “Cities” and is also circling a role in Biyi Bandele’s African historical biopic “Half of a Yellow Sun.”

Dominic Cooper replaces Clive Owen in “Cities”, may leave “Motor City” behind

February 13, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

Looks like conquering “Motor City” just isn’t enough for Dominc Cooper, who’s setting his sights on something more global, as Variety reports the busy and rising actor has replaced Clive Owen in international thriller “Cities”. The new casting could call into question Cooper’s previous commitment to “Motor City”, the ambitious dialogue-free revenge thriller he was slated to star in opposite Amber Heard.

Cooper will join Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst and Anil Kapoor in “Cities” for director Roger Donaldson, which will tell “stories of characters around the globe, including a New York hedge fund manager, a Mumbai police officer and a couple who are house-hunting in London” in the months leading up to the Dow Jones stock market high. Filming will begin this spring in London, Mumbai and New York.

Cooper is currently filming romantic drama “Summer in February” with Emily Browning and appeared in several of 2011′s biggest movies, including superhero blockbuster “Captain America: The First Avenger”, Sundance hit “The Devil’s Double” and current awards contender “My Week with Marilyn.” He’ll next be seen as Abe’s vampire mentor Henry Sturgess in “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”, which just released a pretty epic first trailer.

Emma Watson and “Harry Potter” director David Yates reunite for “Your Voice in My Head”

February 1, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

Warner Bros wants to continue to do business with the team behind “Harry Potter.” Director David Yates has been courted by the studio for a variety of projects but has settled on “Your Voice In My Head”, and now it looks like everyone is keen to get more “Potter” alumni involved. Deadline reports Yates is now in talks with Hermione herself Emma Watson to take the lead role in the adaptation of Emma Forrest’s adaptation of her own memoir. If her deal comes together, this film will mark the fifth collaboration between Watson and Yates, who directed the final four movies in the “Potter” film franchise.

Watson will play a young woman who attempts suicide but is saved by a terminally ill psychiatrist. The studio is aiming high for the male lead, with names including Tom Hanks and George Clooney bandied about.

Watson grew up in front of audiences, taking Hermione Grainger from age 11 to 17 through 8 “Harry Potter” movies and now seems on the verge of an interesting transition to adult roles. She took some time off to focus on college, but has returned to acting with a supporting role in “My Week with Marilyn”, which has garnered Michelle Williams an Oscar nomination, and the female lead opposite Logan Lerman in “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” And while there’s been no movement on the project since last July, she remains attached to a live action reimagining of “Beauty and the Beast”, produced by Guillermo Del Toro.

“The Help” leads SAG Awards nominations; Jonah Hill in, Shailene Woodley out

December 14, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Awards 3 Comments

The 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards have announced the nominees for the 2011 year in film. Summer blockbuster drama “The Help” leads the way with four well deserved nominations, including breakout stars Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer for Best Supporting Actress. “The Artist” also continues to dominate, with Jean Dujardin (Best Actor) and Berenice Bejo (Best Supporting Actress) both landing nods, as well as the entire ensemble. Snubbed in the Supporting Actress category is Shailene Woodley, who gave a brave and powerful performance in Alexander Payne’s “The Descendants.” The film did garner two nominations, and Woodley is still represented in its Best Ensemble nomination.

Looking less and less like a longshot every day and with every new announcement, Melissa McCarthy landed another Best Supporting Actress nod, but the big surprise may be “Bridesmaids” itself, which also landed on Best Ensemble, to the snub of plenty of other, perhaps more serious, Oscar hopefuls. Another surprise but welcome inclusion is Jonah Hill, a formerly broadly comedic actor himself, landing a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his dramatic turn in “Moneyball” opposite Brad Pitt (Best Actor nominee). Also showing up unexpectedly is Armie Hammer for his role in Clint Eastwood’s critically panned “J. Edgar.” It perhaps shows some strong support within the industry for the film, as Leonardo DiCaprio landed a Best Actor nomination as well, to the frustration of Michael Fassbender/”Shame” fans everywhere (including here).

The full list of nominations, including TV categories, are below.

Up and Comers Podcast #7: “Les Miserables”, “My Week with Marilyn” and checking in on our 2010 Breakout Stars

December 6, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge and Rebecca Lewis in Podcast 1 Comment

Thank you for joining us again if you listened to our earlier podcasts or if you are new to the program, welcome! Once a week, Linda and Rebecca will take to the internet airwaves to discuss a variety of subjects, including all the latest news, movies we’ve seen recently, the Oscar season and more topics that interest us (or you! Please send us your suggestions for topics to talk about).

• 00:00 – 16:15 – Some big news to discuss, including some “Les Miserables” casting, the Sundance line-up and more.

• 16:15 – 25:45 – We parse through the first wave of awards from the Gotham Awards, Indie Spirits, New York Film Critics and National Board of Review. How does it affect the Oscar chances of Felicity Jones, Elizabeth Olsen and others?

• 25:45 – 35:15 – Movies reviewed: “Young Adult” (great acting but mixed message), “The Ides of March” (solid) and “My Week with Marilyn” (big split in opinion). No spoilers.

• 35:15 – END – Checking in on our Breakout Stars of 2010. What are Andrew Garfield, Chloe Moretz, Aaron Johnson, Mia Wasikowska, Emma Stone, Jeremy Renner, Noomi Rapace, Tom Hardy and Jennifer Lawrence up to one year after breaking out on the big screen?

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Eddie Redmayne to play Marius in “Les Miserables”

November 1, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

British actor Eddie Redmayne, one of our Faces to Watch in 2011, has landed the pivotal role of Marius Pontmercy in Tom Hooper’s big screen adaptation of “Les Miserables”, Deadline reports. Redmayne joins an impressive cast that includes Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe as arch enemies Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert, respectively, and Anne Hathaway as tragic figure Fantine.

The Claude-Michel Schönberg musical, based on the classic novel by Victor Hugo, is the World’s Longest Running Musical and follows 19th century convict Jean Valjean (Jackman), who has been let out after 19 years in prison, as he finds redemption, goes on the run after breaking parole and fends off the relentless Inspector Javert (Crowe). Along the way, he takes Fantine’s young daughter Cosette under his wing and a new generation of characters join the story as she comes of age and falls in love with young revolutionary Marius.

Mark us in as 100% in support of this casting decision, Redmayne has the exact blend of boyish naivete and mature gravitas needed for this role. Now, let’s hope the casting for Cosette, revolutionary leader Enjolras and street urchin Eponine live up the the casting for Marius. Filming is set to begin in March with rehearsals starting in January and February for the main cast.

Redmayne can currently be seen opposite Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn.”

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