Revolution has set Rosario Dawson to play the female lead role of Mimi Marquez in "Rent," the Christopher Columbus-directed adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Jonathan Larson musical.
She will join many of the original cast members from the Broadway production, with Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Jesse Martin, Taye Diggs and Idina Menzel in negotiations.
Dawson gets the role of the AIDS-stricken stripper after playing the love interest to the title character in Oliver Stone's "Alexander the Great," which Warner Bros. and Intermedia release Nov. 24.
Dawson recently completed a segment opposite Clive Owen in "Sin City," the Dimension adaptation of the Frank Miller graphic novel series co-directed by Robert Rodriguez and Miller. That pic opens April 1.
"Rent," which just celebrated eight years on Broadway, is being produced for the screen by Michael Barnathan, Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro.
She actually occured to me the other day as having the right look for Mimi. BUT--can she sing? And come on, she does NOT look 16. But whatever, she's a name, and after "Alexander" I'm sure they're hoping she'll be a draw.
**edited to add: Was Brittany Murphy up for this? She's too much of a gringa for Mimi, but she has the skeletal addict thing going, and actually has a nice singing voice. Ah well.**
Updated On: 11/7/04 at 05:44 PM
whoever wrote rosario dawson is black needs to get there facts straight. Rosario just happens to be of Puerto Rican/Cuban/African-American/Irish and Native American Indian descent, and don't worry the girl can sing and she's gonna blow everyone away as "Mimi". I was hoping she would be cast! This news made my day
Really? Hmm. I saw her name thrown around on IMDB, and I thought she could probably pull it off. She was good in "Josie" too.
"During this performance, please feel free to let your cell phones and pagers ring willy-nilly. However, do remember that there are heavily-armed knights on stage and you might well be dragged up and impaled."
(Pre-curtain announcement at the new Broadway musical Monty Python's Spamalot)
"....Is of Puerto Rican, Cuban, African American, Irish and Native American descent."
Latina and African American aren't necessarily mutually exclusive....especially for those of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent. Not that it matters as long as it still works for Mimi's mama to still be "llamando" en espanol.
"Revolution has set Rosario Dawson to play the female lead role of Mimi Marquez in "Rent," the Christopher Columbus-directed adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Jonathan Larson musical. "
Oh really?
According to an erinrebecca post about a week ago, "a few different sources have stated that Tracie Thoms has been cast as Joanne."
Well, I told you that I would believe that (and anyone else) when the contracts have been signed.
"Smart! And into all those exotic mystiques -- The Kama Sutra and Chinese techniques. I hear she knows more than seventy-five. Call me tomorrow if you're still alive!"
Wow, I LOVE Rosario Dawson. I wouldn't have picked her for Mimi initially but I think she has the cool edge that works.
*is excited*
"... Still a little bit of your taste in my mouth.
Still a little bit of you laced with my doubt. Still a little hard to say what's going on..." Damien Rice
She's multiracial. Not that those categories particularly matter- what matters is the look, if you must be shallow about it. Carol Channing is part black, after all.
Updated On: 11/7/04 at 05:55 PM
no one's being shallow...but as a Latino Man I know what I'm talking about. For that matter I'm multi-racial also...i have puerto rican/african-american and castillian blood running through my veins. my point was simply to state that she wasn't completely of African American descent as someone erroneously pointed out earlier in this thread.
... right back at ya
Updated On: 11/7/04 at 06:00 PM