Casting Roundup: Jessica Biel - State of the Union, Hugh Jackman - Civil Rights , The Smurfs - More Voices, Benicio del Toro - Undercover
Here are a few little casting tidbits that don’t really need an article unto themselves.
Jessica Biel may currently be in talks to co-star in Gary Marshall’s remake of Frank Capra’s 1948 political drama, State of the Union. The film is about a businessman who must reunite with his estranged wife in order to improve his campaign run for the President of the United States. If cast, she will join Richard Gere who’s already been cast as the lead character.
Hugh Jackman will star in director Lee Daniels’ new film Selma. Daniels last film was Precious, which is nominated for a few Oscars this year. The film is a Civil Rights movie that takes place in Selma, Alabama, which was the place where segregation in the South was at its worst, leading to a march that ended in violence, forcing a famous statement by President Lyndon B. Johnson that ultimately led to the signing of the Civil Rights Act. According to Daniels "It's a moment in time in Martin Luther King and LBJ's (life) around the signing of the Civil Rights. It's a snapshot of the march. It's really Lyndon Johnson’s story. Martin Luther King is a part of it, but it's really the arc of a man that starts out as a racist who is forced to look at himself in the mirror and then ultimately side with King. It's really a journey of a white cat and how he sneers at tradition and against George Wallace, against everybody, says, 'Uh-uh.'" The film will start shooting in May.
The Smurfs movie went and got it self someone to voice the character of Smurfette. That person is none other than musician Katy Perry, who has a pleasant voice. Also joining the cast is George Lopez as Grouchy Smurf, and Alan Cumming as Gutsy Smurf. It was previously announced that Jonathan Winters will play Papa Smurf, and Neil Patrick Harris has been cast the live-action lead. So the cast is coming together for a film that is most likely going to be a CGI live-action disaster.
Benico del Toro has signed on to star in a film called Making Jack Falcone. Del Toro will play Jack and FBI undercover agent who took down 39 members of New York’s Gambino Crime family. The Cuban-born G-man was so convincing while pretending to be Italian that he was invited to become a made man before the feds broke out the handcuffs. Sounds a lot like Johnny Depp’s Donnie Brasco. The difference with Garcia is he was juggling several different undercover personalities in different states that he had to keep straight. The movie is being produced by Steven Soderbergh and written by Peter Buchman. All of these guys worked together on Che. Here's a video of the actual guy giving an interview on 60 Minutes.