Casting Couch: Bonham Carter Gears Up for T4; Matthew Fox Up in Smoke
Helena Bonham Carter is testing her mettle against the Machines.
The Oscar-nominated thesp is in negotiations to play a small but pivotal role in Terminator Salvation, the fourth film in the sci-fi/action franchise, Warner Bros. confirmed today.
T4 stars Christian Bale as an adult John Connor leading humanity’s rebellion against Skynet and its army of killer cyborgs. Sam Worthington costars as a time-hopping amnesiac who teams up with Bale’s character. McG (Charlie’s Angels) is directing.
No word exactly on the nature of Carter’s part, but, along with Bale, the Wings of the Dove star’s casting brings a whiff of prestige to a series best known for launching the big-screen career of Arnold Schwarzenegger with robotic lines like “I’ll be back” and “hasta la vista, Baby.”
Carter is no stranger to summer blockbusters, with roles in the Harry Potter franchise and partner Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes redo.
Shooting began last month in New Mexico; Terminator Salvation is being targeted for a May 22, 2009, release.
In other casting news:
- Marcia Gay Harden, Juliette Lewis, Kristen Wiig and Zoe Bell have signed on to star opposite Ellen Page and Drew Barrymore in Whip It!, a roller-derby comedy that will also mark the E.T. star’s feature-helming debut. Harden plays a bossy beauty queen who pressures her daughter (Page) to forgo the ring for pageants, while Lewis is the team’s star, Dinah Might, SNL’s Wiig is boisterous mentor Malice in Wonderland and Bell is a medical technician moonlighting as derby skater Bloody Holly. Shooting starts this summer.
- Gone Baby Gone Oscar nominee Amy Ryan will be back for a multiepisode stint in NBC’s The Office, reprising her role as a human resources rep (and potential Michael Scott love interest) Holly Flax.
- Lost’s Matthew Fox is in talks to headline Warner Bros.’ movie adaptation of the forthcoming comic book Billy Smoke, about a contract killer who’s eyeing to redeem himself after a bungled job by ridding the world of all of its hitmen.
- Jesse Plemons is putting aside the pigskin in NBC’s Friday Nights Lights for a role opposite Kevin Spacey, Robin Williams and Saffron Burrows in the indie drama Shrink. Plemons plays a drug dealer who supplies pot to Spacey’s character, a Hollywood psychiatrist who turns to Mary J. due to his inability to deal with a personal tragedy and his own patients.
- Erik Jensen, Jose Pablo Cantillio and Clea DuVall are set to topline a two-hour backdoor pilot for Fox called Virtuality, a sci-fi drama about a starship on a mission to explore a distant solar system. Jensen plays the ship’s navigator, Cantillo a mathematician and DuVall the copilot and engineer.
- Malik Yoba and Warren Kole are joining the ensemble of Fox’s one-hour pilot Inseparable, a sort of modern-day Jekyll and Hyde tale starring Lloyd Owen. Both play detectives.
TV Series for Britney Spears?
TV Series for Britney Spears?
She scored a homerun with her guest appearance on “How I Met Your Mother” last week. And now there’s talk that Britney Spears may get her own television show.
The “Gimme More” singer has reportedly received several offers for her own series, and her father (and co-conservator) Jamie Spears is weighing the options.
A source close to the family told press that Jamie, “wants his daughter at a normal 9-to-5 job to keep her working and out of trouble. A sitcom would do that. So he’s exploring several offers for Britney to have her own show.”
Tina Fey of NBC’s “30 Rock” recently told press that she’d consider putting Britney on her show. “We usually write a part first and think about who would be good. If there were a part that would be appropriate, I don’t think we would hesitate to go to somebody like that. I actually worked with Britney twice at ‘Saturday Night Live’ and she was professional and nice.”
We’ll keep you updated on Brit’s possible small-screen career.
Gucci Gets the Face of a Great Danes
Claire Danes is going to help Gucci peddle the finer things in life.
The actress has signed on to be the face of the iconic Italian label's line of fine jewelry (not to be confused with its line of crummy jewelry) in a new ad campaign slated to roll out this fall.
"I am honored to be working with Gucci on their jewelry campaign," Dane said in a statement Thursday. [Creative director Frida Giannini] is a very inspiring and creative woman. Her vision is extraordinary and I am excited to be a part of it."
"She is very natural, fresh and has a carefree attitude that is reflected in the roles she has chosen," Giannini added, referring to her company's newfound muse. "Claire's sensual, confident beauty and her passionate, independent and strong character embodies today's Gucci woman."
In other model moves, Danes, 29, was seen last year grooving in a commercial for the Gap.
After taking time out from her busy big-screen career to play Eliza Doolittle in a Broadway revival of My Fair Lady, Danes is up next in the 1930s-set drama Me and Orson Welles opposite Zac Efron, Ben Chaplin and newcomer Christian McKay as the titular auteur.
Nicolas Cage Leaves Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler; Enter Mickey Rourke
Some believe in Harvey Dent, but I believe in Darren Aronofsky. Requiem for a Dream is one of my favorite films of all time. The Fountain was on my top ten list from last year. But the filmmaker doesn’t have good luck with actors. Brad Pitt notoriously left Aronofsky hanging high and dry on The Fountain just days before filming was to begin because he “lost faith in the project”. And now Nicolas Cage has mysteriously left Darren Aronofsky’s upcoming indie drama The Wrestler, just days after Aronofsky and Cage were seen researching the project at a independent Ring of Honor event. Makes you wonder what caused Cage to flee from the project. There is no official word on why he left. But fear not Aronofsky fans, the film has not fallen into development hell. Aronofsky has found a replacement…
Mickey Rourke.
Okay, so he’s not as big of a name as Nicolas Cage (which will likely hurts the film’s box office performance), but Rourke was everyone’s favorite part of Sin City. He’s a good actor who is perfect for this role. At one point, Rourke even took time away from his screen career to become a boxer. Rourke was arrested a couple days ago for a DUI in Miami Beach, riding his blue-green Vespa.
Aronofsky and Robert Siegel’s screenplay follows Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Rourke), an old burnt-out pro wrestler who suffers a heart attack in the ring. His doctor warns him that if he ever fights again, he would be risking his own life. In an effort to build a new life, Robinson takes a job at a deli, moves in with an aging stripper and tries to build a relationship with her son. But Robinson gets lured in one, possibly fatal, last rematch with his old nemesis the Ayatollah.
The Wrestler begins filming in January.
source: Variety