Casting Notes: Hugh Jackman In Butter; Viola Davis In The Help; Toni Collette And More In Foster; Blake Lively In Cover Girl
A day can’t go byin the past week without another name being added to the cast of the comedy/satireButter. Now it’sHugh Jackman’s turn. He’ll be “an old flame” forJennifer Garner’s character. Not sure how large a role this will be, but I like the idea of Jackman turning up in smaller parts here and there, such as in Wayne Wang’sThe Snow Flower and the Secret FanandLee Daniels’Selma. [Variety]
After the break, Viola Davis and Toni Collette have new projects, and a new film forGreen Lanternco-star Blake Lively.
DreamWorks is adapting the novelThe HelpbyKathryn Stockett, and hasViola Davisin talks to star.Emma Stoneis also considering a role.Tate Tayloradapted the script and is set to direct.
The book is set in Jackson, Mississippi in the early ’60s, and “explores how the unspoken code of behavior governing Southern households is shattered when an aspiring writer interviews a maid, who speaks candidly about her experiences. The interview sets off shock waves that reverberate across the entire community.” Davis would play the maid. I’ve loved her recent work, so this is good news. [Variety]
Toni Collette,Ioan GruffuddandRichard E. Grantwill work under writer/directorJonathan NewmaninFoster, a film about a married couple (Collette and Gruffudd) who are trying to come to terms with the death of their young son, whom they lost five years before the film opens. While trying to adopt another child, a young boy named Eli “appears on their doorstep.”
Sadly, Richard E. Grant does not play Eli. [THR]
Finally, aProduction Weekly tweetpoints to new casting forCover Girl, directed byDonald Petrie.Blake Lively,Jim SturgessandHugh Dancyare all on board.Gren Wells, a former (or possibly current) stand-up comedian wrote the script; he also penned the script for Kate Hudson’sEarthbound. In conjunction with Petrie (Miss Congeniality,My Life in Ruins) I fear that, despite a solid cast, this could turn out to be one many of us go out of our way to miss. But hey, staying postive.
