Dreamgirls Movie Cast List - Offical Release Date 3/8/05

[Kavana]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 8:24am

Effie Melody White - Capathia Jenkins
Deena Jones - Taral Hicks
Lorrell Robinson - Fantasia Barrino
James Thunder Early - Cleavant Derricks

Casting for the WB/Dreamworks film Dreamgirls was a "hard film" to cast says Bill Condon "Since it was announced in January we have been flooded with calls from agents and fans alike wanting to know who we would cast." The obvious choices were to cast Beyonce Knowles as the diva Diana/Deena Jones who takes the lead in the musical group known as The Dreamettes the former group member Effie White was cast in the back because of her size. 1982 Dreamgirls opened to mixed reviews but there was no doubt who the star of the show was "Jennifer Holliday" who originated the roll of Effie White.

Condon "This film is way overdue which is way it was hard to cast this film, If you saw Jennifer Holliday in this roll in the eighties you would know what i am talking about when Effie is going into her song "and IM telling you (IM not going)" you feel every note you could see Jennifer hollidays sweat and tears and you could do nothing but stand and cheer before the song was even over, When i wrote the script i knew i had to have some way of putting the Original Cast Dreams in this film for the fans who waited two decades to see this on film"

Condon confirms Jennifer Holliday, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Lorretta Devine will grace his film. But you will have to wait to see what roles they play.

The cast is full of Stage and Screen actors alike.
Cleavant Derricks (currently on Broadway in hit musical Brooklyn) was apart of the Original Broadway Cast. Asked why such an older cast member Condon stated the role of "James Early" could be a man in his 40's and Clevant looks & sings the same as 20 years ago. Derricks will also play part in vocal arrangement and soundtrack. Fantasia Barrino of American Idol fame was last to audition plays love interest to Derricks. Taral Hicks (A Bronx Tale - Belly) as Deena Jones and as Effie White - Capathia Jenkins (Broadway's Caroline, Or Change).

Three Roles of the "Dream Boys" have not been cast, Jamie Foxx is said to be in talks for Curtis Taylor, Jr.

[LouieLovesTheater]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 8:37am

Hmmmm...interesting casting.

Where did you find this?

[magruder]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 8:52am

What a surprise! Capathia is a wonderful choice. Glad they went with someone for sheer talent.

[Matt_G]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 9:26am

That's surprising and FANTASTIC news. I can't wait to hear Capathia as Effie. She's one hell of a lucky woman to get that part!

[BWayBoy88]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 10:42am

Capathia will be amazing as Effie. Where did you find this?

[Justice]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 11:39am

I love Taral, and I think it's great that she's working again. I can't believe I didn't even think of her for Deena, but, she is perfect for that role, as she is beautiful and has an amazing voice. She always brought me to tears in "Subway Stories".

As for Capathia, they turned down Latifah cause she was too old...Capathia ain't no spring chicken...

And isn't Cleavant Derricks a little too old for JTE?

[magruder]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 11:44am

As mentioned above, nothing in the original material specifies that James Thunder Early has to be in his 20s.

[Bwaybaby109]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 12:05pm

I don't know why but I really didn't like this musical. It just wasn't for my taste I guess. Then again I had a horrible time enjoying because the air went out in the Fox Theatre so it was so hot! I had no idea they were planning to make a movie of it, maybe I'll enjoy it better.

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 12:09pm

!! Capatha!! YAAY!! i fell in love with her at Caroline Or Change

[ShuQ]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 12:11pm

Wow. If this is true, I'm VERY excited! I'm glad they didn't sell themselves short and go for Latifah, Beyonce, etc. just to get big names out there. Congrats to Fantasia Barrino! I can't wait to see her on screen!!!

[pab]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 12:24pm

I hope that we are not getting excited about something that may not happen. A few people in this thread have asked where this information has come from and so far there has been no response to that question. I know that the title of the post says that the release date for the information is scheduled for Tuesday, March 8th, so I guess if we don't get an answer from Kavana, we will just have to wait and see.

[catstagestud]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 2:29pm

Interesting, though I'm kinda sad to see that Jennifer Hudson isn't cast as Effie. But que sera que sera. :-P It'll be interesting if this is the right casting and is announced on Tuesday.

[BillyLawlor]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 2:36pm

If this is true, I'd LOVE to see Capathia Jenkins as Effie. This woman has an INCREDIBLE voice...I'd LOVE to see her sing these songs. I hope after they mount this film, there will be a Broadway revival of this show.

[TonyaFanatic]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 2:36pm

where's the source? this is fake

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 2:46pm

While I don't think we should say this right off the bat, TonyaFanatic, it does seem strange that the article (or even portions of it) in this post wasn't available anywhere on Google, and if this really is a "legit" article from a reliable source, well, the writer should be shot for having such a piecemeal format and bad grammar.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 2:56pm

If this is true, I'm over the moon about Capathia - what a talent! But Fantasia? Come on.

[Jon]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 3:01pm

I'm suspicious of an "official release" that misspells "role" as "roll" and "a part" as "apart".

[Marquise]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 3:21pm

If hasn't been written in Variety or The Hollywood Reporter (which by the way it hasn't) it isn't valid information. This thread is phony. Please don't be so gullible people. This thread actually provided a much needed LAUGH.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 4:45pm

I can guaran-damn-tee you that not one BIT of this is true. The quotes from Bill Condon are made-up, the casting is made-up, the casting of Jennifer Holliday et al is made-up. All false.

[sipos]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 5:14pm

Off with Kavana's head !

[Justice]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 5:24pm

Taral is the only one listed that would work.
Capathia is definately too old for the role.

[Plum]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 5:25pm

All we have to do is wait 3 days and see.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/30/05 at 1:00pm

Can anyone conirm any of this???

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/30/05 at 1:12pm

I just did a search online and came up with NOTHING!

[Adam Chris]

Posted: 3/30/05 at 1:26pm

I checked on IMDb and there is no mention of the cast, just Bill Condon's name as writter and director.