Wednesday, June 15, 2011

DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING? How do we feel about Les Miserables: The Movie Musical with Hugh Jackman as Valjean and Paul Bettany as Javert? Do we have suggestions for casting the other roles?

36 comments:

  1. You had me at Hugh Jackman (though Paul Bettany isn't a bad choice, either!). Anne Hathaway as Eponine?

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  2. Eric J.11:25 PM

    Can Margo Martindale sing? I'd like to see her as the Inkeeper's wife.

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  3. I am on board with Jackman, and don't know enough about Bettany, but I like him so if he can sing, great! I would love to see Kevin Kline as master of the house and they can't do this without NPH right? Maybe as Enrojlas? But really, as long as a Jonas bro isn't Marius again, I'm happy.

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  4. Yes, I feel good about this.  Hugh Jackman NEEDS to be in a movie musical, and this seems as good a pick as any.  (Unless they remade Oklahoma!, which I could get behind if he's playing Curly.  But this will do.)

    As for other casting... Lea Michele as Eponine, obviously.  Maybe Jonathan Groff as Enjolras.  (He could pull off Marius, but I think he's a better Enjolras.)  Idina Menzel as Fantine - too obvious?  You know who'd make a terrific Marius?  Andrew Rannells.  So would Ewan McGregor, 15 years ago.

    Side note: THE BRUINS WIN THE STANLEY CUP!!  THE BRUINS WIN THE STANLEY CUP!!!

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  5. Sounds better than Hugh Jackman as a former pugilist teaching a giant robot to box.  I mean:  Really??

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  6. Marsha11:54 PM

    If they don't do this thing with Jason Segel and NPH, I'm not seeing it.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhXsJjVdj1E

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  7. Needless to say, Genevieve's Kiddo plays Gavroche!

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  8. Holy crap.  That's, like, the best thing ever.

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  9. You hadn't seen it? Oh, yeah. Genius.

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  10. Maggie8:26 AM

    This week's Extra Hot Great podcast has a great segment (called "Will Dave Hate This?") about that movie.  It just sounds crazy.

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  11. "Will Dave Hate This" is a most excellent segment on EHG (the answer is almost always "yes"), perhaps second to "Is This Worse Than Jazz?"

    That said, while the trailers and premise seems extraordinarily cheesy, I've heard that the script is actually really good and it's a solid underdog boxing movie with a mild sci-fi bent which is testing through the roof--Dreamworks has enough faith in it that they've already started pre-production on a sequel already.

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  12. Adam C.10:01 AM

    What I didn't realize (before seeing it mentioned a couple days ago) is that Real Steel is based on an old Richard Matheson short story that was previously adapted into a half-hour Twilight Zone episode ("Steel").  Lee Marvin had the Jackman role.

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  13. Genevieve10:59 AM

    If Taye Diggs was 15 years younger, I'd love to see him play Enjolras or Marius.

    I wonder if Bernadette Peters would go for Mme. Thenardier?  Not her typical role, but I can really see it (think of her in Into the Woods).  If not, Donna Murphy could be wonderful (I haven't seen Tangled yet, but it sounds like her role was in that genre . . . )  Or Penelope Cruz, playing against type (but she's too young so she might not want to).

    Karen Olivo for Eponine.  Or Anika Noni Rose, maybe.  (Please not Lea Michele.)  Laura Osnes or Kelli O'Hara or Carmen Cusack for Cosette, to make you feel her as more than just an ingenue.  Anika Noni Rose might be a better Cosette than Eponine? And I didn't see Nikki Murphy in Book of Mormon, but I heard she was incredible -- would she be more Eponine or Cosette?

    I'd really like to see what Robin de Jesus would do with Enjolras - thinking of him in In the Heights as Sonny, in that moment where he says what he'd do with the money, and everyone grows quiet listening to him.  Don't know if he has the powerhouse voice for it.

    What would Norbert Leo Butz do with Thenardier?  He inhabits characters, it might be surprising . . . Or would Antonio Banderas do a role like that?  I'd be afraid that Mandy Patinkin would overplay it.

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  14. Genevieve11:06 AM

    Christine Baranski as Mme. Thenardier.

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  15. exmundelainer11:56 AM

    - Paul Bettany? Uh, no. That is just NOT a good fit.
    - Hugh Jackman would be OK as Valjean. But Antonio Banderas would make a great Jean Valjean. A Spanish Frenchman ... Or John Barrowman?
    - Anne Hathaway would make a good Cosette -- I'm not sure she has enough "pity me" for Eponine though.
    - Does Liam Neeson sing? He definitely has the gravitas and presence for an awesome Javert, and he's the right age.
    - Matthew Morrison as Marius? Is he too old?
    - Taylor Momsen as Eponine?
    - Nicole Kidman as Fantine? I think it's a SAG requirement that she be in every movie musical.
    - Defintely Alun Armstrong as M. Thenardier -- he's the best of them all.
    - Colm Wilkinson is probably too old for major parts, but it'd be awesome if he had a cameo!
    - And yes to Margo Martindale as Mme. Thenardier!

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  16. I think this was discussed here, but all of the original Twilight Zone episodes are on Netflix Streaming for those interested. 

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  17. isaac_spaceman12:11 PM

    Bleep Bloop Whirrrrr

    ANNE HATHAWAY
    NPH

    Bleep Bloop

    /end

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  18. Oh John Barrowman!! He slipped my mind, but I say a big yes to that. 
    However if Taylor Momsen is Eponine, I will fire bomb theaters. 

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  19. Meghan12:21 PM

    I hope Lea Michele stays a good 100 paces away from this.

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  20. The plus and minus of the proposed shooting schedule (late this year) is that it probably takes out of contention folks with a regular network TV gig unless the part is small enough that it can be shot during a brief winter hiatus, and/or involves someone who can do an episode or two on their show where they don't have much to do. 

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  21. I was just searching you tube for this one. Their timing is perfect.

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  22. bella wilfer1:36 PM

    Real Steel is actually kind of the best version of what that movie could be, at least in script form.  That said, it's still about robots boxing.  I know they're hoping it plays like Paper Moon (parent/kid story), so I guess we'll see.  The second trailer is superior to the first, I'll say that much.

    As for casting - please no Lea Michele.  Like the Anne Hathaway idea for Eponine.  NPH has to play something, right?  Enjolras?  

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  23. Genevieve2:47 PM

    John Goodman as Thenardier.  How 'bout that?  He sings, and he can turn from mighty funny to damn scary on a dime.  Or John Lithgow, who can also do that (though not as scary).  Or Christopher Walken (who sang in Hairspray, and we know he dances).  That would be very very different but could be amazing. 
    As Javert (or Valjean), ALOTT5MA Fave (I think) Victor Garber.

    Possibly Amy Adams as Cosette.  And Anna Kendrick as Eponine - yes, please.  (If Joss Whedon were involved, it would be Felicia Day as Eponine and Nathan Fillion as Javert, in full Captain Hammer mode.)

    Peter Gallagher as Valjean?  (Before Guys and Dolls, he was in Company and a member of the Beelzebubs!)

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  24. Mr. Cosmo2:55 PM

    Lea Michele was actually offered the Eponine role a few years ago, just before she was in Spring Awakening.  I think the problem you have with casting most of these roles for a movie is the usual tension between wanting a well-known actor/actress and casting someone young enough for the role.

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  25. exmundelainer3:16 PM

    Oh, c'mon. If you make her use eye makeup remover and underwear, she's not that bad. And she can sing. What I hate about some movie musicals is the hiring of people for the marquee name, never mind the fact they cannot sing. As much as I like Richard Gere, and he did passable tapping as Billy Flynn, there were so many people way more qualified for that role in Chicago. Another case in point: Nicole Kidman.

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  26. exmundelainer3:18 PM

    Adam Lambert as Marius?

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  27. That video is my personal version of rick-roll. 

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  28. Anonymous4:49 PM

    She played Little Cosette when she was young.

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  29. Marsha, I was totally going to post that link! Love it!

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  30. D'Arcy10:19 PM

    I've been singing Les Mis all week after we found a performance of the 25th anniversary cast on TV on Sunday night. As I said on Facebook, I'd kinda forgotten how powerful and beautiful that music is, and how much I love it (my husband, who has never watched it or listened to the music with me, looked at me and said, "I'm never taking you to see this in a theater.") I was surprised by how much I liked Nick Jonas as Marius.

    If Lea Michele plays Eponine I am not responsible for my actions. Eponine is MY role. I can't sing or anything, but that's the role I always wanted. I'd love to see Samantha Barks, from the 25th anniversary cast, as Eponine. I like Anne Hathaway, but I don't see her as Eponine. 

    Goodman or Lithgow as Thénardier could be interesting, with Christine Baranski as Mme Thénardier. I'd love to see Nathan Fillion in this in any role. NPH as Enjolras... maybe...

    I have no brilliant casting of my own to add. I will think more about this, though.

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  31. Heather K11:35 PM

    NO ONE IS SAFE . . . from jazz.

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  32. sea0tter123:11 AM

    What about Emmy Rossum?n I also love the idea of Ann Hathaway.

    With Marius, I just hope they cast someone who doesn't annoy me more than that character does already. Or at least add to the annoyance.

    What about someone like Nathan Lane for Thenardier?

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  33. Genevieve9:23 AM

    Nathan Lane would make it too light, too much parody, not enough of the darkness and threat of that character.  He's funny, but he's also a bad bad guy (if a somewhat ineffectual and very small-scale one - but dangerous all the same).  Nathan Lane just makes you laugh at him.  That's why I think someone like John Goodman, who has hidden steel under the jokiness that can come out and make you shiver.

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  34. Genevieve9:26 AM

    Samantha Banks is fabulous.  Lea Michele absolutely can't play Eponine - it would become so stagy and self-centered and look-at-me.  

    Love this show so so so much.  Am watching a recorded high school version of it someone just sent me, and wishing I'd had the chance to play in the orchestra or sing in the ensemble in high school (back when I went around singing Eponine's songs around the house).

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  35. sea0tter125:32 PM

    Maybe. But I'm often pleasantly surprised by comedic actors in darker roles. With the right director, I think ht has it in him to be a bit darker. But Goodman could be good, too -- I just worry about him physically when I see him now :(

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  36. D'Arcy6:03 PM

    Oooohhh... where could we put Tim Curry in this?

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