My Fair Lady - remake — Page 2

Actually that is a pretty great cast!

Jonathan Pryce is most certainly not in his 70s - he is 62 ... 10 years younger than Rex Harrison when he finally stopped playing the role.

Richard Griffiths would be PERFECT!

Aaron Tveit as Freddy though - I'd much prefer Ben Barnes.

I love Aaron just as much as the next fan, I just don't think he's right for Freddy. Ben Barnes on the other hand would be perfect :)

He most certainly is - but hopefully he'll be doing Catch Me If You Can for a year from February 2010, so he'll be unavailable.

A couple of years ago I directed a production of My Fair Lady with a Higgins who was 40 - although he did look a little older - and it worked really well because it gave us more scope to focus on the potential physical attraction between Eliza and Higgins. Although it was only very subtle, it worked beautifully. If he had been in his 60s, that would have been overlooked.

I am really looking forward to a new version of "My Fair Lady". But I think some of the presumptions in respect of what is supposed to be right for the roles are way off beam. Someone before quoted Higgins as supposed to be late 40's to early 50's. And that is actually simply not true. Theoretically Higgins was originally only supposed to be in his early 40's. Supposition has changed simply because Rex Harrison was older. But in real terms, he was too old by the time the film was made. And Jonathan Pryce is ridiulously old to play him now. Years ago, perhaps, but not now. Whoever does get to play him doesn't need a great singing voice voice, though, because that speak singing thing wasn't just Rex Harrioson but was about emphasing Higgins' emotional disconnection.

I am not surprised that Daniel Day Lewis was mooted/approached, because he would certainly fit my idea of the ascetic Higgins. Shame it couldn't have been redone when Peter O'Toole was the right age. But of younger actors, albeit with no hope in reality of being cast because he isn't an international name, Richard Armitage would look right to my eye. And Rupert Everett would be quite interesting too.

I thought it was supposed to be pretty much a done deal that Keira Knightley would play Eliza, and that that attachment was probably a major factor in finally getting the new film green lit in the first place. Cam Mac has been wanting to make it for years after all. But I can't say I will mind if she doesn't do it. I am not too keen on her, and I do think it is important that whoever plays Eliza is a good enough singer. I also think she should be British (as KK, at least, is), if not actually a Londoner. But it wouldn't surprise me if the casting is geared to play to the American box office and in that case caricature accents would largely not even be recognised. Assuming one has to go with "names", to some exrtent, Kate Beckinsale or Emily Blunt would have been my preferences.

Pygmalion/My Fair Lady is pretty unique in that accents are critical. I think it is quite unlikely that whoever plays Eliza will be asked to speak in an accurate Edwardian manner, but it is important to be able to speak a reasonably authentic Cockney. And it is just too easy for Cockney to become a dreadful caricature. So common sense says that it is sensible, if feasible, to cast someone who is naturally conversant with the necessary. On the other hand Cameron Mackintosh went with the real Eastender Martine McCutcheon for the last big London revival, and I didn't like her at all. So it isn't written in stone either way. And of course it depends on the individual. Some actors are obviously better with accents than others. But it is generally harder for Americans who are not as used to very varied accents and consequently don't always have as good an ear for them.

I for one, am very excited about this. The first movie, whilst good, is not great in my opinion.

I think KK is not a good enough actress to portray Eliza.... Im on the Anne Hathaway train!!! :)

I also like the George Clooney idea- but some british catsing would be nice......! If they were to go for "super star" american I think Brad Pit would be marvellous, he can be arrogant and irritating but still damn attractive!

I LOVE the Julie Andrews and Mrs Higgins idea!!! ARE YOU LISTENING CAMERON?!

I just hope it actually does get made, unlike the "announced" Sunset movie a few years back...!

Scripps2: Thanks for the kind words.
At the risk of being attacked on this board like I was on the Broadway one I feel we have to inject a dose of reality into this discussion. Although it was filmed completely at Warner Bros in Burbank CA, the 1964 film's major speaking roles were all played by British actors, except Audrey Hepburn, who was half-English, attended school in Kent and for all practical purposes grew up with the English language and was considered a British actress by the American press and Theodore Bikel, whose character was Hungarian. All of these actors including Hepburn had stage experience in European and American Theater (Hepburn even won a Tony award in 1954). Julie Andrews, who originated Eliza on stage and Sally Ann Howes who successfully followed her, were both British. Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller, who many consider the definitive Higgins and Eliza in the 1938 film of Pygmalion, were British. My Fair Lady is a rather faithful adaptation of Pygmalion, and language and accents are of a primary importance in both. I personally don't think any American actress of the right age working today in films is skilled enough to play Eliza convincingly.

I have nothing personally against Anne Hathaway although I do believe her to be somewhat over rated and she has very few stage credits and even fewer singing credits. Nothing in her film roles suggests that she has the acting range to play Eliza convincingly. Her so-called British accent in Becoming Jane was barely adequate by even American standards but she is still a young actress. I doubt seriously that even Meryl Streep, surely the finest actress America has produced in the last 25 years and known for her expertly convincing accents, could have played Eliza in her 20s either.

I like Monestere's casting suggestions, especially Rose Byrne as Eliza. I saw her recently in a small British film called "I Capture the Castle" and her performance was superb (with Bill Nighy equally brilliant as her father). In all honesty I think Mackintosh should eschew a theatrical film and instead film My Fair Lady as a lavish BBC TV production which would allow for a proper cast without box office considerations and would probably result in a more authentic but equally enjoyable representation of My Fair Lady even when compared to the 1964 film. DVD sales would follow and likely be very successful. That's only my opinion and I apologise on the length of this post. What do the rest of you think about a video production?

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I would bet a lot of money either Anthony Ward, Bob Crowley,Roger Kirk or maybe even Bob Mackie design the costumes - and all four men are very capable. Yes, they could not hope to match what Cecil Beaton did for the original, but they can all design beautiful costumes.

Roger Kirk's My Fair Lady designs:

After watching Rachel Getting Married last night i'm pretty sure Anne Hathaway deserves a lot more credit than she is granted. She's got a lot of talent hidden under that disney facade! Whoever mentioned Brad Pitt for Higgins was rather genius actually. Although no Eliza could possibly be prettier than Mr Pitt... he could have his pick which would make him even more arrogant!

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Daniel Craig is the best choice I have heard so far to play Higgins. He even slightly resembles Leslie Howard from the 1938 film of Pygmalion who, as Dayao pointed out, is the actor still considered the definitive Henry Higgins.

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