BORAT in talks to play Pirelli in Sweeney Todd film- Page 4

[Julian2]

Posted: 11/15/06 at 3:16pm

Why thank you, I thought so.

*thread-jack over*

[One Song Glory]

Posted: 11/15/06 at 3:52pm

Now I'm just a bit more interested to see Sweeney. I'm really curious to see what Sasha will do, I think it'll be a nice addition to the cast.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 11/15/06 at 6:21pm

I have no doubts that the acting will be fantastic, but I'm concerned about the singing--Pirelli has some pretty high notes that I don't think your everyday untrained person can sing, no matter how great the voice.

But if his songs are cut as people are saying, I guess it's all good.

[TheatreDiva612]

Posted: 11/15/06 at 6:40pm

No. No. No. No. Noooooooooo...

[moulinrougehk]

Posted: 11/15/06 at 6:54pm

Who said he's untrained?

[PARISinNYC]

Posted: 11/16/06 at 12:19am

This may have been discussed, but this is the only thread that I can find for some reason that mentions Sweeney casting, and I don't want to have to start a new thread.

Is it true they're ACTUALLY trying to cast Tobias with a kid?

Noooooo, I really, really, really, BADLY want Neil Patrick Harris for the role.

[Julian2]

Posted: 11/16/06 at 1:40pm

One suspect for Toby is Freddy Highmore (spl?), i.e., Peter in Finding Neverland and Charlie in And the Chocolate Factory.

[Weez]

Posted: 11/16/06 at 8:33pm

Well, the lib does call for an adolescent. So what would be so dreadful about actually casting one?

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 11/18/06 at 10:13am

wow, and then Freddie Highmore would be working with Johnny Depp yet AGAIN :) haha

but they just mentioned Cohen and the SWEENEY FILM on E! News like 2 minutes ago

yeah

[PARISinNYC]

Posted: 11/18/06 at 7:28pm

I know Tobias is a child, but i'm just biased!

I remember hearing that Freddie Highmore's name was being thrown around, but I heard that they decided against it. Just gossip, of course.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 11/18/06 at 9:59pm

This could work very well. I also feel Pirelli's Elixer is one of the few songs that will make the cut as it fits very easily as a "pitch" which also moves the story forward.

[Oliver Brownlow]

Posted: 11/23/06 at 4:28am

I thought I'd read that Sondheim was actually producing or co-producing the SWEENEY TODD movie. If so, he may have very real power to affect casting, and I wouldn't be surprised if his right to approve casting is formally included in the contract authorizing the sale of the SWEENEY's film rights (it's a standard item, after all, in Dramatists Guild professional stage contracts). To my mind, Cohen's evident versitility with accents and general eccentricity ought to make him a good Pirelli, and Freddie Highmore is a good choice for Tobias physically -- but it all depends whether he can sing, doesn't it? With the recording session and filming coming up so quickly, it's too late to cast someone who will have to learn singing as a new skill. Still, he is obviously the leading boy actor in the Tim Burton Repertory Company, so if any age-appropriate actor has a real shot at it, he does.

I continue to believe that Neil Patrick Harris (who's one of my favorite actors, by the way) would be an absurd choice for Tobias in the film -- he's extremely tall and in his 30's. But of course the recent Broadway production used an unmistakably adult actor in the role -- one who, as he began to guess at Sweeney's nefarious activities, posed a very serious and credible physical threat. A weaker, smaller Tobias has always made more dramatic sense to me, but presumably Sondheim at least tacitly approved this "sumo" Tobias. So if they don't go with Freddie, there's no telling who they'll come up with.

Personally, I literally haven't heard a single actor other than Freddie mentioned for the role anywhere who I thought was appropriate, and I don't know enough about the British juvenile actor scene to offer any other names; but I do know that there's a boy choir culture over there (every stupid little school and cathedral has one) that produces boys who can really sing, and even the occasional celebrity boy soprano like Aled Jones. If they want a British boy actor with a legitimate voice, they can probably find one.

But on the other hand, here's a modest proposal. If it turns out the Freddie really can't sing, why not cast a boy who can: Jean-Baptiste Maunier, the leading boy actor-singer of the French film LES CHORISTES (THE CHORUS -- which was so popular that it was credited with inspiring thousands of French kids to go out and audition for their own local boy choirs, thus creating a booming renaissance of such groups)? But would it be weird or inappropriate for Tobias to speak and sing with a French accent (assuming Maunier has one and wouldn't be able to get rid of it)? I don't think it would be a big problem. It might even complement Pirelli's accents, in a way. Or maybe Maunier is enough of an actor to pull off an English accent. Cohen could coach him.

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 12/7/06 at 2:47pm

I think this might actually be the only casting that makes sense for this film.

[Carl Magnum]

Posted: 12/7/06 at 3:09pm

I love how people are bitching and moaning that Tim Burton uses the same people in ALL his movies.

While, if you watch the DVD's of Sunday In the Park, Into the Woods and other Sondheim's from the period you see a collection of the same faces in certain roles. Much is true with any director or Composer. People use a stock of actors that they feel comfortable with, know the ability of and are framiliar with their creative process. What's the crime? Christopher Guest never gets this kinda flack, neither does Sodeberg(sp?). Why is Burton so different?

[Fan2]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 3:36pm

Check out this story (granted, the source is "The Sun"...):

http://movies.ign.com/articles/751/751023p1.html

>>Borat Raps Burton's Todd
Sondheim musical to get hip-hop infusion.
by Stax

December 14, 2006 - Sacha Baron Cohen's singing voice is reportedly so bad that director Tim Burton has had to resort to the proverbial plan B for his feature version of Stephen Sondheim's Broadway musical hit Sweeney Todd.

****
According to The Sun, Cohen simply couldn't perform the operatic tunes required for the role. "There was never any question of Sacha being axed from the movie," an alleged insider advised the paper. "He is going to do a fantastic job. But he couldn't cut it with the singing. His voice was too low."

So the filmmakers have decided to let Cohen perform Pirelli's songs a little differently. "Sacha has been told to go for a rap style," claimed the source. "It will be a bit like Jim Broadbent's performance in Moulin Rouge."....

[mateo]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 3:41pm

Inteeeeresting.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 3:46pm

Well, I think perhaps they mean he will speak-sing the part - which would work fine. Most of Pirelli's music is reciative anyway.

[Wildcard]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 5:26pm

While I would've preferred him to sing it, his songs are not lyrical ballads anyway so I think he can get away with it. Then again, why not just turn his song into spoken dialogue?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 5:37pm

A lot of it already was turned into dialogue in the draft I read. Tim Burton likes to do quirky patter songs in his movies though so perhaps the way the "Competition" was originally written for the stage would be more to his liking.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 6:33pm

Tobias have very funny retardation. Mrs. Lovett run around pointing to her vagine saying, "You no get this! You no get this!" And one day, Tobias break out of his cage and he get this!

It's nice!!!!!!!!!!!

This is my boss, Benjamin Barker. He is pain in my assholes. I get a window from a glass. He must get a window from a glass. I get a step. He must get a step. I make miracle elixir. He get transported to Botany Bay. Great success!

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 12/29/06 at 6:21pm

Bumpsies.

[Queenie Was A Blonde]

Posted: 12/29/06 at 6:52pm

Sorry to do this all, but I really don't want to start a new topic.

Any word on Tony Head? I have been a bit behind on my ST news and frankly, IMDB freaks me out a bit so I just saw his name under the cast. Any word about who he'll be playing?

[sabrelady]

Posted: 12/29/06 at 9:00pm

Alan Rickman was recently interviewed on the CBC ( mostly to support a Canadian film he did) but he was asked about the Sweeny Todd film and stated he " was doing a duet w Johnny Depp" but "they have to wait a bit to see if either of them could sing" this was followed by a comment about computer programs that can take a flat not and "unflatten it"- Interpretation- "Pretty Women" is definately in and that computers WILL be used to fix all the problem vocals.