What is Casting Couch? It’s a column that’s trying to talk about casting news on a day when Oscar nominations are king. Pity it.
Paul Thomas Anderson is the sort of filmmaker who casts amazing actors in his movies and then directs them to the best performances of their careers. From Philip Baker Hall in Hard Eight, to Tom Cruise in Magnolia, to Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood, to Joaquin Phoenix in The Master, this has always been true. According to Showbiz 411, Robert Downey Jr. may be adding his name to that list soon. They say that he and possibly Charlize Theron are looking like they’re going to be the stars of Anderson’s upcoming adaptation of reclusive author Thomas Pynchon’s novel, Inherent Vice. If this ends up being true it would, of course, be completely awesome for film fans, and probably be the biggest thing that’s happened to Downey’s career since he got cast as Iron Man. That’s a win-win for everybody.
Lucas Till
Divergent is the first in a trilogy of Y.A. novel adaptations that are hoping to ride the coattails of things like Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Hunger Games to become the next big money-making film franchise. Neil Burger will direct this film, which is said to have a Hunger Games-esque plot of teenagers killing each other in a future setting, and already has The Descendants star Shailene Woodley cast as its lead. What it doesn’t have is a male lead though, and Variety says that they’re trying to fix this by screen testing Lucas Till, Jeremy Irvine, and Alex Pettyfer, who all seem to be in a heated competition for the role. What do you think? Who would look best on a poster tacked up on the wall next to my bed?
Deirdre O’Kane
Irish actress Deirdre O’Kane will get the chance to travel to sunny surf spot Vietnam for her next job. Variety is reporting that she’s just signed on to star in writer/director Stephen Bradley’s Noble, which tells the life story of Christina Noble, an Irish woman who survived a harsh upbringing to start a foundation that helped street children and their families in Vietnam and Mongolia. That may sound like it could end up making for a stuffy tearjerker, but when you factor in the news that people like Downton Abbey’s Brendan Coyle and Game of Thrones’ Liam Cunningham are also making appearances, suddenly the pot gets sweetened.
Emmanuelle Béart
You would imagine that directing a feature film for the first time would be enough of an exciting, nerve-wracking experience already, but first time director Stephen Lance has decided that he wants to crank up the pressure another notch. THR reports that he’s using his first chance to make a movie to direct French actress Emmanuelle Béart in the role of an S&M mistress. Now that’s living. His film, My Mistress, will also star Australian actor Harrison Gilbertson as a teenage romantic who gets involved with Béart’s more experienced character and starts an affair that begins with some light spankings and nipple tweakings, but ultimately turns dangerous. …I’ll be in my bunk.