What is Casting Couch? It’s the casting news roundup that finally gets to stop talking about Walk of Shame, which was really being something of an attention hog lately.
Some real bad news hit today for everyone looking forward to seeing what a trainwreck Ben Affleck and Kristen Stewart starring opposite of each other as romantic interests would have been. Affleck announced that, due to his busy schedule of being a busy person, he’s not going to be able to act in Focus after all. This means that the Glenn Ficarra- and John Requa-helmed pic will have to find someone else to vibe with Stewart as its in-the-mood-for-romance con artist, and Affleck is going to have to stick to directing movies, a place everyone seems to feel way more comfortable with him being in anyway. [Variety]
Jon Voight
Jon Voight is looking to tap into his real-life conservative urges for an upcoming role, as THR is reporting that he’s in negotiations to play a KGB agent tasked with stalking Ronald Reagan in an upcoming biopic of the former President called Reagan. The film, apparently, will be based on two books by Paul Kengor that were called “The Crusader” and “God and Ronald Reagan,” and the character Voight is up for is an amalgamation of several Russian agents who we now know were tasked with keeping a very close eye on Reagan for many years. This film now joins a hefty pile of upcoming Reagan-themed projects, including The Butler, which stars Alan Rickman as the former President, and Reykjavic, which will see Michael Douglas taking his shot at the role.
Hugh Jackman
We’ve been hearing that Hugh Jackman is likely to reprise the role of the X-Men’s smelliest member, Wolverine, in Bryan Singer’s upcoming movie about a mutant dystopia, X-Men: Days of Future Past, for a while now. Given the actor’s willingness to strap on the fake claws and sideburns for basically any mutant-themed project Fox wants to put together, it pretty much seemed like an inevitability that it would happen, but now all doubt has been laid to rest. Singer has confirmed, via a Tweet, that Jackman is now official for the film. I guess he’s just not going to shave off all those face pubes ever again.
Katey Sagal
Katey Sagal, the former Peg Bundy, current biker gang matriarch of TV’s Sons of Anarchy, has just signed on to appear in a new film. According to Deadline, the veteran of playing sassy ladies will be joining the cast of There’s Always Woodstock as the proprietor of a coffee shop who “suffers no fools.” This one is a romantic comedy about a girl who returns to her late parents’ home in Woodstock, New York for the summer and, while there, probably meets a nice boy in a flannel shirt or something. Allison Miller, of NBC’s Go On, is all set to play the lead; the lead who will presumably be learning lots of life lessons from Sagal’s sassy bean-brewer.
Samantha Barks
Tom Hooper’s upcoming film adaptation of Les Misérables will see stage actress Samantha Barks making the big jump from stage to screen, and if early rumblings are any indication, she gives the sort of performance in it that’s probably going to turn some heads in Hollywood. Or, more accurately, has already turned at least one head. The Wrap is reporting that she’s just been cast in a new film called Walking on Sunshine, which is a Kylie Minogue-starring musical about a mother and daughter who fall in love with the same man that’s going to be set to ’80s pop songs. Moulin Rouge vet John O’Connell will be serving as the musical choreographer on this one, so that should give Barks plenty more opportunity to show off her pipes.
Tig Notaro
The Elizabeth Banks-starring vehicle Walk of Shame has been getting a lot of focus in the casting news world of late, announcing a new member of its ensemble to the public every few days for the last couple weeks, but now the production has stopped messing around and just put a list of its entire cast out there for your perusal. According to Coming Soon, Banks, James Marsden, and Gillian Jacobs are going to be joined in the film by Bill Burr, Liz Carey, Ken Davitian, Willie Garson, Lawrence Gilliard Jr., Oliver Hudson, Alphonso McAuley, Kevin Nealon, Tig Notaro, Ethan Suplee, and Sarah Wright. There we go, that one name dump probably just saved us six months of write-ups. Does anybody on the list have you more looking forward to taking this one in than you were previously? Personally, I can always get down on anything that gives Kevin Nealon a chance to weird out for a paycheck.