Bradley Cooper as the Elephant Man at Williamstown

[Kad]

Posted: 4/20/12 at 6:11pm

...Did I miss this announcement?

Per this casting notice on Playbill. And Patricia Clarkson as Mrs. Kendal.


Elephant Man casting notice

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/20/12 at 7:00pm

I like that it's being called "WTF Elephant Man"

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/20/12 at 7:05pm

Umm wow. Might actually not be bad, and Clarkson is perfect casting. Cooper has talked a LOT about theatre being his real love, bla bla--I'm not sure how much major theatre he's actually done so far, but I think he could pull it off. The play's usually done without heavy makeup or anything, unlike the Lynch movie right? It's all meant to be imagined? I guess they could still attract much of his fanbase then...

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/20/12 at 8:32pm

That's correct Eric, but it is a phyiscally demanding role as the actor does take on the body contortions suffered by the character. (BTW...I was in the first non profesional production of this, back in the day.)

And yes to Kad, it surfaced either last week or very early this week.

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 4/20/12 at 8:38pm

The original production had the amazing Philip Anglim as the Elephant Man, and Billy Crudup had some touching moments in the revival. And no, it is not usually done in the Lynch movie makeup, but the actor needs to have great mobility to arrange his body in a twisted manner. Cooper was very engaging at Williamstown in Rebeck's THE UNDERSTUDY several years ago, and could be very good in this. And Patricia Clarkson is perfect casting.

[Playbilly]

Posted: 4/20/12 at 8:39pm

They'll probably try to hag him up a bit...but not too much I'm sure. Quite a challenging role for your first high-profile theater role. Good luck to him.

Thing is, the role is traditionally played by thin actors and he's sorta buff.

[AC126748]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 9:25am

Cooper gave a performance of The Elephant Man as his MFA thesis project at The New School. Those who saw that performance say he was incredible. He definitely has stage chops--he was great in THREE DAYS OF RAIN, and this isn't his first time at Williamstown--and I'm sure it will be great to see him in such a small venue. I imagine tickets will be quite hard to come by, as it's playing The Nikos Stage, one of the smaller satellite theatres.

Patricia Clarkson will be amazing, of course.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 9:52am

Why had no one mentioned that the actor who plays the Elephant Man in the stage version spend most of the play contorting his body wearing nothing more than a loincloth:

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 1:37pm

The productions I've seen have only had him in a loincloth for the first couple of scenes. Once he moved into the hospital he was dressed like a proper English gentleman. Still, even a few loincloth scenes are enticing enough for a drive up from the city if I'm not working.

[Overkill]

Posted: 6/4/12 at 11:52am

I was about to post a thread begging for the possibility of a revival on Broadway, and came across this. I somehow missed this news, but Cooper is such a great choice to play John Merrick.

I find it interesting that so many people question if he can even pull it off... let's not forget, David Bowie and Mark Hamill (who was only known for Luke Skywalker at the time) both gave incredible performances, and Bradley is definitely on par with these great men. Although, one might think that if this were being remade in Hollywood today, Bradley would more likely be Frederick, but I digress...

I'm excited to see how this goes, and with the star power, just maybe it'll move along to Broadway. Bradley Cooper & Patricia Clarkson in The Elephant Man isn't something I'd hate to see on a marquee. :)

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 6/4/12 at 12:03pm

I placed an order for this last month and got nothin'. Tried again this morning (at 10 AM on the dot!) and was also shut out.

I did get tickets for Far From Heaven (at least I think I did: my card was charged but no one from Williamstown bother to inform me my order was processed) but really wanted to see this on the same weekend!

Anyone have any clue whether tickets are released at a later date and/or if they have day-seats? If anyone has extra tickets, I would be happy to take those off you

[Wynbish]

Posted: 6/4/12 at 12:11pm

In spite of his most popular movies roles, he really is a trained, intelligent actor.


Bradley talking about his Elephant Man thesis

[newintown]

Posted: 6/4/12 at 12:25pm

It's one of those roles bad actors love, because you don't really have to act, merely put on layers and layers of extreme mannerisms. It's like "Rain Man" or "My Left Foot:" the herd loves to mistake this sort of thing for acting, when it's nothing more than physical tricks, more related to the circus.

[Overkill]

Posted: 6/4/12 at 12:57pm

I agree, I've seen bad John Merrick performances, but surely you do mean that it's just the actors that are so simplistic, not the role itself. Because, while some performances I've seen haven't been great, it's always because of the actor, never the material or character itself. I think it's easy to forget John Merrick was a real person. There's much more to it than making a silly face and bending your leg.