What is Casting Couch? It’s a round-up of Hollywood casting news, not one of those porn videos where a 19-year-old gets exploited in a grimy-looking office. Move along, perv.
Now that we’ve got all of those live action Snow White movies out of the way, it makes sense that we would move down the fairy tale lineup and start seeing a rash of new Cinderella projects popping up. And, if Disney has their way, their Mark Romanek-directed Cinderella script from The Devil Wears Prada scribe Aline Brosh McKenna will be the hit that starts the trend. They’re trying to get casting for the film off on the right foot with the acquisition of a big name, as Deadline reports that the House of Mouse is in serious negotiations with Cate Blanchett to come on board to play a character called Lady Tremaine, known in some circles as the wicked stepmother. Given her experience playing a creepy elf in the Lord of the Rings movies, this seems like something of a perfect fit.
Toby Jones
Toby Jones is one of those “that guy” character actors who you’ve seen in a million movies, and always love, but whose name you might not actually know. Recently he’s popped up in under the radar films like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Captain America: The First Avenger, and The Hunger Games. You know, that guy. Well, Variety reports that Jones has just joined a coming of age drama from director Bruce Goodison called Leave to Remain that’s about a group of kids from different countries getting thrown together to try and start a new life in London. Apparently the film is planning on mixing professional actors with first-timers who come from refugee backgrounds, which would mean that some kid is going to make his acting debut playing a scene opposite Toby Jones. Dang, you could do a heck of a lot worse than that.
Rosamund Pike
Australian director Mark Joffe is all set to make an adaptation of the Steven Carroll novel “The Art of the Engine Driver.” It’s going to be called Violet Town, and Deadline reports that Joffe has landed Guy Pearce and Rosamund Pike as his leads. The story is reportedly about a ’50s-era couple who attend a neighbor’s New Year’s Eve party where things get a little out of hand and skeletons start popping their heads out of people’s closets. It turns out secrets really don’t make friends. Aussie vet Bryan Brown is also attached to appear in the film, but his role is not yet known. What would be nice is if he played the guy slinging drinks behind the party’s bar, you know, just for old time’s sake. Get a little more use out of that flair training.
Amaury Nolasco
Prison Break star Amaury Nolasco’s career seems to be getting a shot in the arm recently. Not only has he filmed a role for the new John McClane adventure, A Good Day to Die Hard, but Variety is reporting that he’s also just joined the cast of a crime thriller called In the Blood alongside Rock of Ages star Diego Boneta and mixed-martial-artist-turned-action-star Gina Carano. Nolasco will play a Dominican mob kingpin in this story of a mother looking to rescue her son from a group of Caribbean kidnappers. Sounds a little bit like Taken, only with a slightly sexier lead and the added perk that everybody on set will be getting umbrellas in their drinks.
Mark Indelicato
Remember hearing about Gregg Araki’s upcoming drama White Bird in a Blizzard? Well, either the people over at Variety are just getting lazy, or now the film is simply going by the title White Bird, and also it’s just signed Disney Channel regular Mark Indelicato to join the cast as a middle school pariah. Indelicato will be working alongside names like the already-signed Shailene Woodley, Gabourey Sidibe, Shiloh Fernandez, Eva Green, and Christopher Meloni in this tale of a troubled young woman whose life goes kablooey after her mother up and splits. It’s not quite filming a three way for Harmony Korine, but sounds like this is as good a way as any for Indelicato to move beyond the grinding gears of the Disney machine. Good luck to him.
Damian Lewis
Don’t call it a commercial. The new project Jaguar is putting together with Ridley Scott Associates is much fancier than that. It’s a short film called Desire, and it’s a project that’s got some real talent working on it. The car company just announced in a press release [via ComingSoon] that this upcoming not-just-an-ad will be starring Damian Lewis as a character named Clark who delivers cars for a living. The short tells the story of Clark running into some trouble when he meets a mysterious woman (to be played by Shannyn Sossamon) out in what they describe as a “lawless desert.” Presumably lots of Jaguar-centric, Mad Max-inspired car chases then commence. Adam Smith, a TV vet who has directed episodes of Skins and Dr. Who, will helm.