Casting Couch: Woodard Comes in From the Cold
Alfre Woodard is getting into the spy biz.
The Emmy-winning actress has signed on to costar with Christian Slater in the new NBC series My Own Worst Enemy, a sort of small-screen version of James Cameron’s movie True Lies.
Per the Hollywood Reporter, Enemy revolves around an easygoing suburban dad (Slater) who, when not watching over his family, moonlights as a debonair secret agent.
Woodard, who was Emmy’d for her Desperate Housewives turn, will play his tough-as-nails boss at HQ, who also interacts with the spy in his everyday life via her cover identity.
Enemy, which also features Saffron Burrows, Mike O’Malley and Yara Martinez, will air Mondays at 10 p.m. on the Peacock net, starting this fall.
In other casting news, Saving Private Ryan’s Adam Goldberg is joining forces with up-and-comers Emily VanCamp and Dan Byrd for the indie coming-of-age tale Norman.
The drama will follow a wisecracking troubled teen (Byrd) who pretends he’s dying of cancer. Complications ensue as he deals with new high school love (VanCamp) and his teacher (Goldberg).
After a stint last season on HBO’s Entourage, Goldberg joined the upcoming indie horror flick From Within. He’ll then return to the tube opposite Lost’s Harrold Perrineau in the new ABC series The Unusuals.
Norman is now filming in Spokane, Wash.
Game on for the Godfather
Yes, it was an offer they couldn’t refuse.
More than 30 years after Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall and James Caan first starred in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 masterpiece, The Godfather, the trio have reunited for Electronic Arts’ new videogame based on the movie.
Before Brando died last June, the Oscar winner granted EA permission to use his likeness and voice for the game’s cinematic interludes and even revisited his Don Vito Corleone role by recording new parts.
While it’s not known how much Electronic Arts shelled out to secure Brando, who was notorious for his outrageous salary demands, the company forked over enough to convince Caan and Duvall to take another stab in the family business as, respectively, hotheaded heir Santino "Sonny" Corleone and consigliere and adopted son Tom Hagen.
Caan and Duvall turned up for The Godfather videogame’s official unveiling at Little Italy’s Il Cortile restaurant in New York Thursday, where the actors watched for the first time teaser clips of their CG selves and explained why more than three decades later, they got pulled back in.
"It was fun," said an antsy Caan (who looked like he’d rather have been back at work on his NBC series Las Vegas). "Bobby called me…and it was a thrill to be working with him again. Obviously, Marlon did the game and Bobby did it, and it was great. For me, it was like my kids could play with me even if I’m not there."
The Godfather game allows players to invent their own GoodFella and climb the ranks of the criminal underworld controlled by the Corleones and the other families. As they work their way up, players employ tried-and-true mob tactics like intimidation, protection rackets, extortion, pistol-whipping, drive-by shootings and, of course, horse beheading–a Corleone family tradition.
"The game is based heavily on the same thing the film was: respect. Family. Expanding one’s territory. You have the opportunity to live the life of the godfather," said David DeMartini, the game’s executive producer.
Nick Earl, EA’s vice president and general manager, says having Brando, Caan and Duvall aboard reprising their iconic characters adds an element of realism.
"You’re kind of a guy off the street who gets sucked into the family because you helped them out," Earl told Online. "Here are different paths. You can become the godfather of the Corleone family, or the don of every family. You can play everything."
Electronic Arts also acquired the rights to use Godfather composer Nino Rota’s score in the game and hired Oscar-winning composer Bill Conti to write an additional 100 minutes of original music.
Development on The Godfather videogame started 18 months ago, when Paramount and parent company Viacom pitched EA execs the long-shot idea of adapting one of its most famous properties. After Paramount embraced the games EA did based on The Lord of the Rings, the company got the greenlight and set about making the concept work.
"A lot of entertainment executives are afraid of technology, don’t understand interactive, don’t know how big our audience is, how many million people around the world spend more time playing games than they do watching television," said Jeffrey Brown, EA’s vice president of corporate communications. "Paramount gets it. They understood early on what an interactive Godfather could be."
Along with Brando, Caan and Duvall’s characters, gamers will encounter other notables from the movies–including Fredo Corleone, Luca Brasi and the heads of the five families.
There has been no word whether Michael Corleone made the cut, but Al Pacino’s voice is not in the game. Also MIA is the other Corleone sibling, Talia Shire’s Connie Corleone.
Caan was asked how he would play the scene where Sonny pulls up to a tollbooth–and winds up getting ambushed.
"If I knew there was a Godfather II, you bet I would’ve had change," Caan said.
After their brief appearance plugging the game, Caan and Duvall made a swift getaway through Il Cortile’s kitchen.
The Godfather videogame is due out in time for the holiday shopping season and will be available for a variety of platforms, including PlayStation 2, Xbox and Sony’s new PSP.
Casting Couch: Lipstick Jungle Gets Moore, Showtime for Wentz, Disney for Duhamel
Lipstick Jungle is trying on a new shade of star power this fall.
TV icon and seven-time Emmy winner Mary Tyler Moore has signed on to star in several episodes of the glossy NBC series when it returns for its second season Sept. 24.
Moore will play Joyce, a retired high-powered exec and mother of Brooke Shields’ character, who challenges her daughter’s notion of having it all, professionally and personally.
“I’m fortunate to have had a front-row seat to the evolution of working women on television,” Moore said in a press release. “It’s been great fun to watch the strong female characters of Lipstick Jungle go at it week after week. I absolutely adore Brooke and I’m delighted to be a part of a show which is so well written.”
She’s gonna make it (better) after all.
In other casting news:
- Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy and Ashlee Simpson-Wentz fame is set to cameo as himself in an upcoming episode fo Showtime’s Californication, the cable net confirmed to News. He will run into David Duchovny’s character during the second-season premiere in September.
- Josh Duhamel of Transformers and Fergie fame is set to cameo as himself in the July 7 episode of the Disney Channel animated series The Replacements. The show’s matriarch, Agent K, repeatedly interrupts the filming of Duhamel’s latest action flick, thinking he’s in need of assistance.
The rumor that never dies: the potential Friends movie
If there is one rumor that never dies it’s the one about the possibility of a Friends reunion. Since the series finale aired in May 2004, rumors about a reunion popped up here, there and everywhere. Sometimes the rumor takes the form of “there will be another spinoff” (remember Joey?) but most of the time it’s a “there are talks about a movie but one of the stars doesn’t want to commit.” This week’s revival of the rumor is of the latter kind.
According to Showbiz Spy, Courteney Cox Arquette, who played Monica on the hit NBC series for 10 seasons, is desperate for a big-screen adaptation of Friends. Yeah, I know, Showbiz Spy isn’t the most legit source out there, but being a Friends fan, I can’t help myself but wonder if it’ll happen or not even though I’m not too keen on a reunion now since I doubt it would live up to my extremely high expectations.
Wonder why I chose a picture from the show that doesn’t include Rachel, played by Jennifer Aniston? Well, it’s because the Showbiz Spy article claims that Aniston is the only one not ready to reprise her role. Supposedly, the actress is afraid of being stereotyped by a movie version of the series and that it would prevent her from getting more serious roles.
Interestingly, David Schwimmer announced last September that he would not take part in a Friends reunion if there ever was one. So if the Spy article is legit, why did he change his mind? Is it for the big pay check that he would get from a reunion? Is it to get some exposure to be able to advertise his other projects? Who knows!
It’s no surprise that this rumor is revisited this week since the Sex and the City movie is currently airing in theaters and is not doing too bad at the box office.
So let me ask the question for the 1000th time, do you want a Friends reunion? If so, what type? Movie? TV special?
[via AOL]