NINE Film Casting Rumors from Page Six — Page 3

I think Toni Collete would be stunning as Carla and hilarious to boot. Her "Simple" would also be great I think. I have never understood why people assume Luisa needs to be dowdy or "plain." She sings that she was an "actress with dreams and a life of her own" so I would assume that she was pretty enough to get some film work. Also, if Luisa is as attractive or more so than Carla it just shows how Guido has put his wife on a pedastal that even he feels like shouldn't be touched. And really, all Luisa needs to be is a repressed bitch who lets it all fly in "Be On Your Own." I think Zeta-Jones is the gal for the job.

Z.

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"Did you really not get that? Or do you think your personal opinion of her talent is more important than hundreds of millions of dollars and a Best Picture Oscar?"

Why are people on this board so nasty to one another. Someone voices an opinion (one that quite a few people share despite the awards garnered) and you come at them with that? Sad, sad, sad.

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I think we also have to assume some new songs may be written for the movie. Who knows if Luisa will even sing those songs.

Sure they can cut them. If the movie of THE FANTASTICKS managed to cut "Try To Remember" then nothing is sacred.

I hadn't even thought about that, MichaelBennett, I REALLY hope they don't cut Luisa's songs, they both are some of the best in the show. Actually, I wouldn't mind if they cut the title song (which I assume they won't do), and it's probably 90% sure that they will cut "The Germans at the Spa," even if it's a fun song I don't see it working on film.
I still see Toni Collette as more of a Luisa than a Carla but I think I get your point MichaelBennett, Luisa is a very obvious/typical role for her whereas Carla would be a more interesting casting. Even so, I definitely see her as the forgotten wife who 20 years ago was an up-and-coming movie actress. Catherine Z. Jones is all wrong for the role, I think she'd punch Guido the first time he looked at another woman or tried impeding her from doing a film. I know it is called "acting" (and I'm a fan of hers) but the actors' personas will definitely play a role in the casting of a show like NINE.
I guess no one but me can see Salma Hayek as Carla, I still believe she'd be exciting in the role.
I think Judi Dench is probably being considered for Guido's mother, not Liliane.
What should be Liliane's age? I know Montevecci was not in her 70s when she played the role in the original production (unlike Chita).

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I always thought Guido had a sexual relationship if not a sexual tension with Claudia. When she sings "one woman's not enough for you, Guido" and he replies "One's plenty if it's you, Claudia," I get the sense they are having a relationship. I feel like he is unable to actually attach to her in any other way than through the camera though. Their scene together that evolves into "Unusual Way" seems very awkward and yet she's her one source of inspiration. I always felt she wasn't real for him, sort of an ethereal figure which is why I'd love for a very classy, goddess-like actress to get cast in the role.
I think Carla can be read in different ways. Jane Krakowski was the ultimate sex goddess but I believe Anita Morris was more a la par with the grotesque sexuality that MichaelBennett mentions. Isn't she Guido's current mistress in 8 1/2? Now in the film she was VERY common, vulgar, and annoying. I don't see her as being young either, both Morris and Krakowski read as contemporary with their respective Guidos. She is definitely Guido's search for another Serraghena, which is the sense I get from the strong sexuality and eroticism that is expressed in "A Call from the Vatican."
Frankly, I don't see ANY of the women as being young. Claudia is moving in with a 53 year old man and has been working with Guido for a while, Luisa was an actress 20 years ago, and Carla has been married already.

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Updated On: 4/16/07 at 05:41 PM

I agree it is interesting how a lot of these women are open to varying interpretations.

...which presents a lot of options in casting the film and adapting the screenplay.

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"One woman's not enough for you Guido. It's plenty if its you Claudia." -- I don't see anything that necessarily suggests a sexual relationship there -- I guess I'd like to think that 8 1/2 (or NINE) is a little bit more sophisticated than that. I think its about a man's emotional connections to all the women in his life.

As a writer, I have definitely had female muses in my life - that I have had hugely emotional relationshps with - its something deeper and more special than anything sexual. I'm probably drawing my own feelings about art into analysis - but I don't think Guido would ever sleep with Claudia - it would taint his image of her as something perfect artistically.

P.S. Yes - Arthur Kopit is being given a chance to write the first draft of the screenplay.

Updated On: 4/16/07 at 05:51 PM

Actually change that. Anita Morris didn't have sex appeal. She was sex. Walking sex.

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I always thought that Claudia was his muse, too sacred to do anything with. I think there was a possibility at one point, but it was passed. I think their working relationship far surpasses their personal relationship.

I don't think Collette, as much as I love her, has the vocal range, nor immediate sex appeal for Carla. I think you need a natural sexpot, and Collette is a fantastic actress, but film is different from theatre. Perhaps I'm just being narrow minded.

If Call From the Vatican is transposed for an alto, I will scream. I want belted high Es, and a high C.

I trust Marshall. As much as I wasn't the biggest fan of Zelwegger in Chicago, I certainly see what he saw in her, and I think she gave a pretty good performance, nonetheless.

He's the perfect person to direct this complex and gorgeous piece of theatre.

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It has been said numerous times that the material will be adapted to suit the cast's voices/talents/bodies/et al. Yes, I'd love to have a Carla who can hit that high C at the end but we have about four cast recordings (plus Alice Ripley's version in The Maury Yeston Songbook) where we get to hear that. If I have to sacrifice the high C for a Salma Hayek, Toni Collette, Nicole Kidman, or any of the stars being considered, it'd be perfectly fine with me.
Besty, you really put it in perfect words.

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Oh, I don't think he's sleeping with Claudia while he's in Venice (although he acts like "the cat that ate the canary" with her)...

...I just think he's never "detached" from her... and in his mind their romance is alive and never ended.

I still say Claudia, Carla and Luisa are his three "current" loves.

EDIT: I also think that Claudia would leave her perfect man in Paris in a heartbeat if Guido would ever leave his wife. Which he won't, and she knows that.

Makes it more complicated and less "perfect" in their reality. And makes their scenes together have more subtext and suggestive romance.

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Updated On: 4/16/07 at 06:42 PM

I like MB's interpretation as well!

Which makes these scenes fascinating. They have some mystery to them... letting the audience draw their own conclusions about what has or hasn't happened.

Ah, the power of romance!

I'm beginning to remember the many reasons why I dig this show.

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