What is Casting Couch? Today it’s proof that if you star in something about sexy young vampires, you will continue to get more work.
Warner Bros.’ Lego movie already had names like Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, and Morgan Freeman signed for its voice cast, thus making a stupid-sounding idea suddenly seem promising, but now they’ve really gone and made Lego into a movie that you can start looking forward to. Deadline reports that the film has just added Will Ferrell to its cast as the bad guy, President Business, Liam Neeson as the bad guy’s main henchman, Bad Cop, Parks and Rec’s mustachioed Nick Offerman as a revenge-obsessed pirate, and Community’s cheery-voiced Disney Princess Alison Brie as a member of the protagonist’s team who holds a powerful secret. That may just be the weirdest/most fun cast ever assembled, and it almost makes up for the fact that the movie is going to be in 3D.
Ashley Greene
Now that the Twilight series is finally wrapping up with the impending release of Breaking Dawn – Part 2, its cast of beautiful pale people are going to start having to work a bit harder to find regular gigs. When you’re young, famous, and gorgeous, that’s probably not going to be too much of an issue though. The Wrap is reporting that Twilight vet Ashley Greene is already close to shoring up her next role, a spot in Oliver Blackburn’s thriller about college kids meeting Devil worshippers that used to be called Kristy and is now being referred to as Satanic. If Greene agrees to come on board, she would be joining the already-signed Haley Bennett (The Hole), which would make this one of the most hottie-filled films to be released in a while.
Sara Canning
Twilight actresses aren’t the only vampire vets getting gigs these days though. THR is reporting that The Vampire Diaries star, Sara Canning, has just signed a deal to appear in a dark romantic comedy called I Put a Hit On You. Canning will be playing a broken-hearted woman who drunkenly puts a hit out on her ex-boyfriend, and then realizes that she has to do whatever she can to cancel the contract once she sobers up. Warehouse 13 star Aaron Ashmore is all signed to play the boyfriend, but there isn’t yet any word on who will play the hitman. Maybe they’ll go after one of those guys from Supernatural, just to make sure they get an actor from every genre-themed show on television.
James McAvoy
Before we abandon this Twilight theme, let’s get to one more piece of news. Breaking Dawn director Bill Condon’s next job is going to be helming a film about WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange that adapts elements from two books called “Inside WikiLeaks: My Time With Julian Assange At The World’s Most Dangerous Website” and “WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War On Secrecy.” We already knew that Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch was signed to play Assange, but now Variety is reporting that X-Men: First Class actor James McAvoy is also on board as Daniel Domscheit-Berg, the author of “Inside WikiLeaks.” That’s two powerhouse talents who are now going to be appearing in the same movie. It’s a good thing Condon has so much experience working with Kristen Stewart; at this point he must be an expert at deciding when to stop shooting, even though all the takes are so good.
Wendi McClendon Covey
Wendi McLendon-Covey has built her career as a comedic actress by behaving very badly. Whether she’s playing a cleavage-baring cop in Reno 911! or a booze-guzzling bimbo in Bridesmaids, it’s been a truth up to this point that she’s always been at her best when she was dropping jaws. But Variety is reporting that she’s taking a decidedly different kind of role for Tyler Perry’s upcoming comedy Single Mom’s Club. Here she’s been cast as a snobbish book editor struggling with the juggling of her career aspirations and parenting. Does McLendon-Covey have what it takes to make us laugh in a more subtle role where she’s not just picking the low hanging fruit? It seems we’re about to find out.
Alan Arkin
Any movie that has a role that calls for a grizzled and sarcastic old man is best served just forgoing auditions and casting Alan Arkin. From things like Slums of Beverly Hills, to Little Miss Sunshine, to the recent Argo, Arkin has proven that, no matter his age, he’s always going to be the most charismatic actor in any project he joins. So Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro’s upcoming boxing flick Grudge Match is going to be very well served by casting him. Variety reports that he’s joined the film as the Stallone character’s trainer, “Lightning” Louis Epstein, an old-school boxing coach whose workout regime hopefully includes chasing chickens and crapping thunder. You wouldn’t want to cast Stallone and De Niro in a boxing movie that didn’t take the opportunity to keep winking at the audience.