What is Casting Couch? An attempted rounding up of all the casting news that’s running loose out there in the wilds of cyberspace (does anyone still say cyberspace?). Read on to find out which big-name actor has become the cherry on top of the sundae that is Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla cast.
Can Tom Cruise carry yet another franchise? Despite the fact that he’s already the face of the Mission: Impossible films, where he does the secret agent thing, and the fact that there are plans for him to do more Jack Reacher movies, which see him doing the private detective thing, director Guy Ritchie has decided to go after the veteran movie star to play the lead in his upcoming The Man From U.N.C.L.E. feature anyway. Deadline reports that the actor is currently negotiating to star in the project, which was once upon a time going to star George Clooney and be directed by Steven Soderbergh. Given U.N.C.L.E.’s history of problems, only time will tell if this possible Ritchie/Cruise pairing actually bears fruit. You have to see casting the guy who already launched an old spy show into a successful movie franchise as the new guy trying to launch an old spy show into a successful movie franchise as something of a desperate move though, don’t you?
Sarah Silverman
Sarah Silverman is the latest name Seth MacFarlane is looking to bring on board his upcoming Western-themed comedy, A Million Ways to Die in the West. But unlike the other gals in the movie, who are playing ex-girlfriends or current muses, Silverman is up for the coveted role of the worn-out old prostitute, which has to make Charlize Theron and Amanda Seyfried just seethe with jealousy. We already heard that Giovanni Ribisi had joined the film as a hen-pecked man whose prostitute fiancée is willing to sleep with everyone in town but him, and well, if Silverman signs it seems like she’s going to be said prostitute. Given her predilection for always saying inappropriate things, that’s kind of a hard casting to argue with. Good luck with the whoring! [Heat Vision]
Rotimi
An actor from the Starz show Boss, who apparently just goes by the name Rotimi, is the latest to join the cast of Black Nativity, an adaptation of a Langston Hughes project that’s set to be directed by Eve’s Bayou helmer Kasi Lemmons. Variety reports that the film already has big names like Forest Whitaker, Jennifer Hudson, and Angela Bassett on board, which would mean that Rotimi is the only member of the cast who doesn’t happen to have a last name. Hopefully that doesn’t make him feel like an outcast. Hughes’ original novel was a modern re-telling of the nativity story, wherein a teen boy falls asleep in church and imagines what the birth of Jesus would be like if it was a black story. Don’t worry though, this is Langston Hughes, so it should have more insight and relevance than “white people bring the baby Jesus presents like this, and black people bring the baby Jesus presents like this.” Actually, hold on, I think I just came up with a new chunk to add to my stand-up routine…
America Ferrera
Writer/director Ryan Piers Williams’ (The Dry Land) latest indie drama, X/Y, has announced its cast [via Deadline]. Not only is his real-life wife and Dry Land star, America Fererra, going to be joining him on the set of this new film, but he’s also got a whole host of other names, like Melonie Diaz, Jon Paul Phillips, Dree Hemingway, Adam Rapp, Maria Dizzia, David Harbour, Ann Dowd, and Common on board as well. X/Y is going to be one of those New York relationship dramas that introduces you to a bunch of different characters and shows you how their lives intersect and inform one another, so hiring a ton of actors becomes pretty crucial to the process. I hope he has enough money in the budget to buy everyone lunch. It seems like things like that could get pretty pricey. Especially in New York.
Ken Watanabe
Heat Vision has some more news regarding Gareth Evans’ upcoming Godzilla movie. Not only are all of the actors that we’ve heard are verbally attached to the film, like Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche, David Strathairn, and Bryan Cranston, finally officially signed and announced, and not only has principal photography started in Vancouver, but there’s also been a last minute addition to the cast that we haven’t heard about up until this point. Apparently Batman Begins and Inception actor Ken Watanabe is also going to be appearing in the film. This is spectacular news, because even though the Godzilla cast looks to be way more talented a group of people than you ever imagined would be in a monster movie, it just wouldn’t have felt right making a Godzilla film without giving him at least one Japanese dude to squish. Now all is right with the world.