What is Casting Couch? Today it’s Associate Editor Kate Erbland, filling in for the intrepid Nathan Adams as he enjoys vacation. Also, it’s about casting. Also, there’s not much going on today in Casting Land. Also, it’s Friday. Let’s all relax together.
Looks like Brad Anderson‘s Eliza Graves is getting increasingly more British-y. The film, based on an Edgar Allan Poe short story, already has Kate Beckinsale attached to star, and now Deadline reports that Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley, and Jim Sturgess have also joined the cast. This one centers on a mental hospital that gives new meaning to the saying “the inmates are running the asylum.” Spooky and such. No word on who is playing who, but we’re willing to bet the pivotal role of the handsome new doctor in town belongs to Sturgess.
Wally Pfister‘s upcoming Transcendence just keeps getting better, as ComingSoon now reports that Morgan Freeman has signed on for a role in Christopher Nolan’s trusty cinematographer’s first directorial outing. There’s no word on how Freeman will be playing yet in the heady sci-fi flick, but he will join stars like Johnny Depp, Paul Bettany, Kate Mara, and Rebecca Hall in Pfister’s tale of scientists, a self-aware computer, and the unlikely merging of the two. Freeman will next be seen in another sci-fi outing, as Oblivion opens next week. Hopefully he’ll commit a smidge more time to Pfister’s film than he did to that one.
Joel McHale certainly needs more to do, as apparently starring in a weekly sitcom and hosting a weekly chat show (well, sort of) simply aren’t enough for the tall drink of water. The Hollywood Reporter reports that McHale has been added to the cast of that upcoming Drew Barrymore/Adam Sandler rom-com which used to go by the name Blended. It’s without a name right now, but it does have a immature and skeezy ex-husband” for Barrymore in McHale, so we’ll consider that a win for the nameless production.
Did you think that Summit’s next big YA adaptation was done casting? How wrong you were. Despite kicking off production on Divergent in Chicago this week, Neil Burger‘s take on Veronica Roth‘s book has somehow made room to add yet another cast member. This time around, it’s Ashley Judd, as THR comes to us with the news that the actress is set to play Natalie Prior, mama to Shailene Woodley‘s Tris Prior in the dystopian feature. Judd is a solid pick for the role, one that comes complete with some surprising facets.