Glenn Close and Ewan McGregor in Sunset Blvd! — Page 4

well that's 10 bucks that won't be leaving my pocket...
do you honestly think sir andrew would cast patti with all they went through? i was hoping for meryl. hugh jackman as max? what planet are they on? anthony hopkins maybe. i loathe any and all attempts to pass off glenn close as a vocalist of any kind.

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if hugh is joe, than who is ewan? i thought there is only 1 leading man role in that show. am i having a senior moment?

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Yes I guess only Glenn is for sure.


I found this article though: I don't think it promises Ewan but here it is:

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news05/050711f.php

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Matt - EXACTLY.

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I have to confess that I have never heard Close sing, although I know she was in "Barnum" as well. I actually like this the best of ALW's shows--it was so beautifully sung by Betty Buckley, and acted as well.

This is a RUMOR per RUG.

I emailed RUG and someone else on another board did too. Same answer they know nothing about the newspaper article.

I am not sure if the film has been approved by Paramount for the go ahead.

Yours,

Carolyn

Ewan McGregor just seems too young for this part. There was a callousness and edge to William Holden’s performance that I just can’t imagine Ewan bringing to the role. Joe Gillis isn’t some young innocent; he’s been chewed up and spit out by Hollywood just like Norma (the only true innocent in the story is Betty). I realize Ewan is now actually older than William Holden was when the original was filmed, but even at 34 he still looks and comes across as too boyish for the character.

Did you like it LittleRed? Not to thread jack but I've been hearing a lot of different opinions about it all..I can't wait!

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Glenn Close is now the right age to play Norma. It will be obvious on film. And she's one of the smartest actresses around. Of course she played Norma as a grotesque on stage. She had to play to a house that sat 1500 people. She'll modify her performance for the camera perfectly.

Ewan McGregor is an interesting choice. I didn't know it was down to him and Hugh Jackman. As much as I love Hugh Jackman, Joe Gillis is really down and out and this is his last chance. Ewan McGregor can play that role the best of the two. Hugh Jackman is a tad too slick.

"...Hugh Jackman is a tad too slick... "

Have you seen any of his movies?

In SWORDFISH, he played a character who was down and out ...and had to go along with a megalomaniac to survive.

In THE XMEN movies, he was too angry because life dealth him a bad blow ( didn't know who he was and how he turned into a mutant).

In KATE AND LEOPOLD ( for which he won a Golden Globe nom) he was a fish out of water in the 21st century, coming from an age where courtliness and gentlemanly conduct helped him win his lady love.

In Erskineville Kings ( his little known first movie, of which some gritty scenes were shown in the Inside the Actors Studio interview) he played an embittered son who was left to care for an ailing father whom he helped to die eventually.

In the filmed version of the RNT OKLAHOMA, he was a cowboy so in love with a tomboyish beauty that he went about with some braggadocio simply to impress her.


Maybe you might have confused his Peter Allen persona from THE BOY FROM OZ as the reason for saying he is a tad too slick ?

In that show, there is a line which Peter utters when his manager refuses to let him impersonate slick gambler Legs Diamond -- "It's called acting!"

And I am sure Darren Aronofsky saw Hugh's great ability to lose himself in a role when he decided to cast him in his much awaited project THE FOUNTAIN, after seeing him perform in THE BOY FROM OZ.

Also, if you have seen the classic film version of Sunset Boulevard, didn't William Holden ( who got top billing over Gloria Swanson, btw) play the role of Joe a bit slick?

Updated On: 7/12/05 at 08:03 PM

I love me some Ewan and would be thrilled to see him in another musical performance. I'm a sucker for that guy, what can I say? :)

Some people have written to Andrew Lloyd-Webber's company and received replies stating that the news reports are incorrect - they are in early stages of casting and no decisions have been made. One quote was "don't believe everything you read in the press." So I guess it's another "wait and see" until we get really official word.

Maybe they will use my favourite Joe, John Barrowman!

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