What is Casting Couch? It’s a rundown of all the casting news we missed over the weekend. Keep reading for updates on new jobs for young actors like Aml Ameen and…Nick Jonas? Squeal!
Bryan Singer’s shock and awe campaign of constantly keeping X-Men: Days of Future Past in the headlines through information leaked via his Twitter account seems to be paying off. Most recently he teased us all by tweeting a picture of his casts’ head shots tacked up to a wall, a picture that ComingSoon analyzed and discovered secrets in. Turns out the pic gives us three more names who are in the movie. Not only do we now know that Daniel Cudmore, who played Colossus in X2 and The Last Stand, is coming to turn metallic and smash things again, but we also know that Twilight vet Booboo Stewart has joined the pic in an undisclosed role, and that Chinese actress Fan Bingbing will be playing the mutant teleporter Blink. Those sure are some fun names to type.
Kate Beckinsale
Brad Anderson’s latest thriller, The Call, was something of a surprise hit this weekend, perhaps thanks in large part to the star power that Halle Berry brought to the film. So it’s probably a good strategy that he’s looking at another high profile actress to anchor his next project, Eliza Graves, which is being described as a psychological thriller that’s loosely based on an Edgar Allen Poe story called “The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether.” Heat Vision is reporting that the director is in negotiations with Kate Beckinsale to take the titular role, which would see her playing a patient at a mental institution that has been taken over by a group of loonies who are now posing as the doctors. Scary as that sounds, the story also leaves some room for romance, because word is her character manages to catch the eye of a med school grad who’s recently arrived and is clueless as to what’s going on. Sounds tense. With Kate Beckinsale around as a distraction, that poor guy may never realize that everyone he’s working with are a bunch of psychos.
Greg Kinnear
Two more actors have signed up to take part in the Anchorman 2 fun. Deadline is reporting that the sequel with the rapidly expanding cast has most recently signed up House of Lies star Josh Lawson and the star of your mother’s idle afternoon fantasies, Greg Kinnear. There isn’t yet any word on what roles they’ll be playing, but they join a list of newcomers to the series like Harrison Ford, Kristen Wiig, James Marsden, Meagan Good, and Dylan Baker, and chances are each one of them will be filling a role that’s more ridiculous than the next. Let’s just hope that nobody kills Greg Kinnear with a trident. He’s so likable.
Elisabeth Rohm
Speaking of ensemble casts that have just added another member, David O. Russell’s ABSCAM movie is in the same boat. Variety is reporting that Elisabeth Rohm, who you might recognize from stuff like Joss Whedon’s Angel or your dad’s favorite show, Law & Order, is now on board the Annapurna Pictures-produced film, and is gearing up to act opposite names like Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner, and Amy Adams. This has got to be seen as good news for a veteran TV actress’ career. If even a fraction of all that star power rubs off on her, she could soon find herself in charge of a mid-size country or something.
Aml Ameen
The group of boys who need to find a way to escape out of a giant maze in director Wes Ball’s upcoming YA adaptation The Maze Runner has now been expanded to three. We already knew that Son of Rambow star Will Poulter and Game of Thrones actor Thomas Brodie-Sangster were on board, and now Heat Vision is reporting that Kidulthood star Aml Ameen is in as well. If you’re not familiar with all things British, you might not yet know Ameen, but he’s been in some pretty popular stuff across the pond, so this might be the role that allows him to blow up on an international level. He’s being described as playing the other boys’ leader, after all, so this job has to be seen as something of a coup for him.
Nick Jonas
This next one is for teen girls and anyone who just likes really good music: Jonas Brother, Nick Jonas, is reportedly going to be putting the singing aside for a little while to try his hand at some acting. Variety is reporting that he’s just signed on to star opposite Isabel Lucas (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Immortals, Red Dawn—Oh God, somebody stop her) in an indie thriller called Careful What You Wish For. The movie will see Jonas playing a character who starts boning the trophy wife of an investment banker—an investment banker who mysteriously dies soon after. Did Jonas kill the guy to get him out of his way? Did the wife do it because now that she’s got a taste of the Bonas she can’t stand to touch any other man? Either possibility sounds plausible. This is Nick Jonas we’re talking about. The guy is capable of anything.