Nine Casting — Page 7

About five years ago.

Why are you hung up on matching exact looks and facial features from that film? It's merely superficial... and has nothing to do with an actress's personality on the screen.

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Updated On: 8/25/07 at 01:34 PM

Actually, I'd buy Jones as Liliane. She indeed would sell that number like few can, IMO. I'm still pretty sure she'll end up playing Luisa not Claudia or Liliane--if she does end up being in the film.
If casting were up to me, I'd definitely pick Cruz as Claudia. I think she has just about everything the role needs, plus the pictures MichaelBennett posted just reassured me.
I don't see Zellweger as Carla AT ALL. I think there is absolutely nothing grotesque like Milo, or sexy (like Morris or Krakowski) about her.

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It's too much like playing "Nine Paperdolls" just to match them physically to the actresses from 8 1/2. And has very little (if anything at all) to do with actually playing the roles in this film adaptation of the musical.

And I agree, if Zeta-Jones could do the French accent, she's one of the few I can think of that would set the screen afire on Follies Bergeres.

If I were her, and had my pick of any role I wanted (as she did with Chicago), I'd pick Luisa first, then Claudia.

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Updated On: 8/25/07 at 01:42 PM

Marshall is doing the paperdoll casting - I'm just commenting on it!

Who do you see as Carla, Best12 - Im sure you've posted somewhere but this thread is long and vast now!

Updated On: 8/25/07 at 01:43 PM

Well because I don't look at it as paper doll casting - I really do see Cruz, Cotillard and Zelwegger having qualities similar to their predecessers in 8 1/2 beyond a physical resemblence (though I certainly do see that too.) If I were casting the film as some type of homage or direct remake of 8 1/2 I could certainly justify the casting. I have no idea if that is what Marshall is doing - just speculating that if he were - I can justify his choices.

I agree with Ray - even if Cruz didn't resemble Cardinale at all - she IS Claudia to me. Aloof. Stunning. A goddess. I disagree that Claudia is Guido's friend and confidente - she is his muse - he may want her to understand him, but she doesn't. That is what the song UNUSUAL WAY is about. Guido only really connects totally with Luisa. That is the ultimate realization I think.

Updated On: 8/25/07 at 01:47 PM

"Bardem? Cruz? Do any of you remember when they use to put movie stars in movies??"
"Hot right now" doesn't always translate into "talented."

First you say Bardem and Cruz are unknowns and then you say "Hot right now" in sentence concerning them. That does not make sense. Bardem and Cruz are big stars with extraordinary acting range. You have clearly not seen any of their Spanish films if you don't think they are talented. The Sea Inside and Volver are two movies that pop into my head when someone is talking about excellent performances.

As for zelwegger, she is not going to take a role she can't pull off. She has a great track record compared to most A-list stars out there. (Kidman comes to mind). Plus everyone has Karkowski's version stuck in their head. Everyone should go watch 8 1/2 because the women in that film are all amazing looking in their own way.

Does anyone know if Maria Bello can sing? She could fit a few of the parts. She is Italian, a great actress and really hot.

I re-watched 8 1/2 i few nights ago and Anouk Aimée is not the drab, boring housewife everyone seems to want to make Luisa. She is just as beautiful or more so than Zeta-Jones.

Besty, I think MichaelBennett's description actually fits the idea of Claudia Nardi from the stage piece.

Even if Cruz comes close to the "Claudia" of 8 1/2, she is not the ethereal, poetic siren/muse of the musical NINE, which this is.
I disagree, I actually find Cruz to be all these, as MichaelBennett said, a difference in opinion. I would just love to see her at the beach telling Guido, "I'm tired, why have you brought me to this beach?"
Re Zellweger as Carla. I'm all open for new portrayals of the role as phenomenal as I think Jane Krakowski could be if she were allowed to reprise the role for film. I'm even willing to let go of the mold set by Anita Morris. And I STILL don't see Zellweger in the role. Give me a Marissa Tomei or a Salma Hayek but Zellweger as Carla? Ugh. (Coming from someone who went ga-ga over her in CHICAGO)

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Updated On: 8/25/07 at 01:59 PM

Zeta-Jones isn't ethereal by nature, but she can "play" it. She also looks it way more etheral than pouty-lipped, doe-eyed Cruz. That's why (if I were her) I would go for that part.

If Marshall is striking the same deal he did with her on Chicago, she will have her pick of any part she wants. Period. No questions asked.

It's not what people would expect from her, but she still gets to be a desirable, glamorous and inspiring woman. I hope she goes for it.

NYC4Life--I don't know where people are getting that Luisa is a "drab housewife." She is the forgotten wife, yes, but she was also an "actress with dreams and a life of her own," not to mention the "daughter of a well-to-do Florentine." It's all in the lyrics of My Husband Makes Movies.

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Updated On: 8/25/07 at 02:02 PM

"So I'm not sure it was really that kind of power granting."

It definitely was MB.

Inside source. One degree of separation.

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Has Catherine Z. Jones had a hit since CHICAGO?
I'm warming up to the idea of her as Luisa. Her "Be On Your Own" would be fierce.

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She's a bigger draw than Bardem or Cruz but really when was the last time she opened a movie successfully? NO RESERVATIONS is a dud, the romantic comedy she did with George Clooney wasn't a hit either, the only hit movie she has done post-CHICAGO was OCEAN'S TWELVE which had an ensemble cast.

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Mario Bello sang in Duets, NYC4Life.

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Best12, is this inside info or your assumption? It just seems odd to me that she'd be allowed to pick her role out of a dozen options. Especially when she's hardly right for all of them.
Also, let's not forget that Maury Yeston does have casting approval which is not common for most movie musicals.

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