What is Casting Couch? A bunch of casting news, all in one place. Today we’ve got more news about that YA adaptation, Divergent, as well as a possibility for what the king of YA adaptations, Robert Pattinson, may be doing next. And there’s other stuff too. You don’t have to be a young adult to keep reading.
There’s been a lot of casting talk regarding Guardians of the Galaxy lately, but strangely enough, it’s all been about the same character—Drax the Destroyer. First Jason Momoa was said to have been offered the role, then there was said to be quibbles over money, then someone got wind that Dave Bautista was being looked at as a backup, and now THR is reporting that Bautista has officially signed. All of the hullabaloo kind of makes you wonder if they’ve even started to think about casting any of the other roles. But, anyway, Bautista is a huge ex-pro wrestler, he’s something of a charmer, and while he’s not as cool as Jason Momoa, surely he’ll make a fine Destroyer of Thanos.
It’s not very often that an actress as beautiful as Rose Byrne decides to make a career as a comedienne, but after the success of Bridesmaids the comedy roles seem to just keep coming her way, so why not ride that wave while it lasts? THR is reporting that she’s currently in negotiations to join two big comedies. The first deal would see her joining the ensemble cast of that dramedy we’ve been hearing so much about, This is Where I Leave You. She’d be playing the Jason Bateman character’s childhood crush, who is said to have been something of a wild child. The second deal would put her right back in the world of raunchy, R-rated comedies, as it would see her playing Seth Rogen’s wife in the new Nicholas Stoller movie Townies, which is about a regular couple moving next door to a frat house and being harassed and tormented by a group of meathead frat dudes led by Zac Efron. That sounds like a nightmare.
Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall are about to get some company for their upcoming dramedy, The Judge. THR is reporting that Vincent D’Onofrio is joining the film in the role of the Downey character’s older brother. Seeing as the movie casts Downey as a big city lawyer who has to come back to his home town after his father (Duvall) suddenly becomes a murder suspect, I guess that would put D’Onofrio in the role of the schlubby son who never really left his parents’ house or made anything of himself? That’s usually how these coming back home movies work. Wouldn’t want to break away from a proven formula.
Once the Coen brothers’ latest film, Inside Llewyn Davis, finally hits theaters, its star Oscar Isaac should suddenly find himself in the position of being a much bigger name in the business. But even before any of that goes down he’s already lining up more roles for himself. Deadline is reporting that he’s signed on to star in a film called Partisan, which is an indie that’s going to serve as the debut for writer/director Ariel Kleiman. The film is described as being about a vengeful man who raises his children to attack the world that he feels has wronged him, which is a story that we can all relate to, because other than making them fetch you things from the fridge, that’s basically the best reason there is to have kids.
Thomas Brodie-Sangster, a young actor who’s going to be playing Jojen Reed in the upcoming season of Game of Thrones, is said to be joining Son of Rambow star Will Poulter in Wes Ball’s upcoming book-to-screen adaptation The Maze Runner. Deadline has the story, and they say that the film is set in a post-apocalyptic world and that it follows a group of boys who are trying to find their way out of a gigantic maze. This, of course, makes one immediately question who has the time to build a gigantic maze during the apocalypse, but I guess we’ll have to wait for the movie to learn all of its secrets.
Speaking of post-apocalyptic stories—much of the week’s casting news has already been about Neil Burger’s upcoming post-apocalyptic YA adaptation, Divergent, but that’s not stopping us from having even more for today. Deadline is reporting that a whole gaggle of new actors either have joined or are negotiating to join the Shailene Woodley-led cast. First up, Theo James, the star of the CBS series Golden Boy, is said to have landed the male lead. His character, Four, is a big time leader of men and the one who gets to romance Woodley, which means that this could be the role that really gets his name out there. In addition to this handsome young actor on the rise, names like Kate Winslet, Aaron Eckhart, Ray Stevenson, and Miles Teller are all said to be negotiating for the film as well. Add these names to the ones we know already, and you can start to see how big a hit the studio is hoping Divergent can become.
Finally, it looks like we might have some word about what Twilight star Robert Pattinson’s next job may be. The Daily Mail reports that he, along with other young actors like Max Irons, Sam Claflin, and Douglas Booth, are all in various stages of negotiation to star in a film adaptation of a stage production by Laura Wade called “Posh.” It’s about a group of privileged young men who are the members of a fictional organization called The Riot Club, which is said to bare more than a striking resemblance to some of the elite Oxbridge Dining Societies. The play details a particularly rowdy meeting of this club, a meeting which involves ten members and at least one prostitute, so chances are we could be hearing about the casting process of this one for quite a while going forward. An Education helmer Lone Scherfig is on board to direct, which is great news, because An Education is completely awesome.