Sondheim Talks FOLLIES Movie Musical- Page 10

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/27/11 at 5:40pm

Actresses "of a certain age" that I would consider for a film version of Follies:

Annette Bening
Meryl Streep
Glenn Close
Sally Field
Cher
Judy Dench
Sigourney Weaver
Diane Keaton
Bette Midler
Goldie Hawn
Liza Minnelli
Kathy Bates
Vanessa Williams
Helen Mirren
Judy Davis
Diane Weist



Actors:

Kevin Kline
Mandy Patinkin
Kevin Spacy
Christopher Walken
John Travolta
Bruce Willis
Geoffrey Rush

[broadwaybabywannabe]

Posted: 8/27/11 at 6:01pm

BETTE MIDLER would be FABULOUS as Sally...she can handle LOSING MY MIND, and IN BUDDY'S EYES...**** yeah!...OMG OMG OMG...is a film really going to happen?..OMG OMG OMG...

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/27/11 at 6:14pm

My three favorite Sallys out of that list would be Diane Keaton, Meryl Streep, Sally Field, or Diane Wiest.

My favorite Phyllises would be Annette Bening, Sigourney Weaver, Goldie Hawn, Vanessa Williams, or Glenn Close.

My favorite Carlottas would be Bette Midler, Cher, Liza, or Judy Davis.

Stella - Kathy Bates, Bette Midler, Helen Mirren, Judy Davis, Judy Dench, Liza
Hattie - Bette, Judy Davis, Judy Dench

Favorite Buddys - Christopher Walken, Kevin Spacey, Mandy
Favorite Bens - Kevin Kline, Geoffrey Rush, John Travolta, Bruce Willis

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/27/11 at 6:18pm

I also love the Sally Field as Sally idea. She's a bit old for it, but she looks great.

And I think Streep is better fit for Phyllis.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 8/27/11 at 6:34pm

Can Betty White sing? Because if you don't cast her at Hattie, I fear the villagers will storm the castle.

Bette MIdler would play Sally beautifully, but with somebody like Streep as Phyllis, you get a "back story" in which the Jewish girl loses the golden boy to the shiksa goddess. And Barbara Streisand already made that movie 9 or 10 times.

Better to let Bette Midler stop the show as Stella (assuming Cher plays Carlotta)!

Best12, I love your list, but all of your Sallys strike me as a little too patrician for Sally. Fortunately Kristin Chenowith should be the right age by the time the film gets made.

[Kad]

Posted: 8/27/11 at 6:49pm

I think John C. Reilly could be a terrific Buddy.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 8/27/11 at 6:56pm

Besty, Annette Bening as Carlotta is a brilliant idea!
I also like that Meryl Streep is part of your top three choices for Sally, people would usually cast her as Phyllis because of her more recent roles but if you go back to her early performances in FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN, THE DEER HUNTER, and KRAMER V. KRAMER, you see how she could make an incredibly fantastic Sally. Having said that, I do think Sally Field would be perfection, although I'd like to see a younger cast. Annette Bening and actresses from her generation would be ideal in the three main female roles.

[ComingUpRoses2]

Posted: 8/27/11 at 8:08pm

I'm lovin' all these selections! My dream cast would be something along the lines of...
Sally...Meryl Streep, Diane Keaton, Sally Field, Catherine O'Hara, Diane Wiest or Toni Collette
Phyllis...Kim Catrall, Annette Bening, Sigourney Weaver or Nicole Kidman
Buddy...Kevin Kline or Robin Williams
Ben...John Travolta or Kevin Spacey
Stella...Kathy Bates, Goldie Hawn or Liza Minnelli
Carlotta...Karen Black or Carrie Fisher
Hattie...Angela Lansbury, Chita Rivera or Shirley MacLaine. Yes, Betty White would be fun, too. I think she can sing. She was in a few musical productions back in the day.
The Weismans...Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews

Some of the age differences are a little much, but oh well...it's my dream cast, not the ideal cast. haha

[madbrian]

Posted: 8/27/11 at 8:23pm

My choices:

Sally: Catherine O'Hara
Phyllis: Vanessa Williams
Carlotta: Kim Cattrall
Stella: Kathy Bates
Hattie: Shirley MacLaine
Buddy: Christopher Walken
Ben: Kevin Kline
Whitmans: Dick Van Dyke & either Julie Andrews or Mary Tyler Moore

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 8/27/11 at 8:28pm

Ding! Ding! Ding! And we have a winner!

Toni Collette would be perfect as Sally. She may be a little young (she started playing mothers very early), but she can sing and she'll make up for her youth with her acting.

(I'm assuming the film is set in 1971 and Sally is 50.)

On the other hand, Catherine O'Hara would break our hearts.

To me, Kim Cattrall is fake "upper class" and always has been. I think of Phyllis as someone who is a successful social climber, not a mere poser.

[ComingUpRoses2]

Posted: 8/27/11 at 8:46pm

I think Toni Collette would be amazing, too! To me, age isn't a huge deal. You can always make someone look older.

[Miranda3]

Posted: 8/27/11 at 10:09pm

ray-andallthatjazz86: Thanks for the tutelage. I mean that sincerely. I am one of those you mentioned who suggested Barbara Harris (and Cleo Laine too) for Carlotta. I read your arguments re why they are inappropriate and I am convinced. We aren't talking about a recording of Follies, but rather a film. Voice is not all. I should have gone to a casting school--that seems clear! Thanks for posting your thought in a noncontentious way that enabled me to learn from them. Will be watching for your posts in future.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/27/11 at 10:34pm

Love the idea of Toni. Bit disappointed when I came to this thread--I thought it meant talk of the film had once again resurfaced...

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/27/11 at 10:55pm

In a few years if this film would ever get made, Cate Blanchett would be a divine Phyllis.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/27/11 at 10:58pm

Another one I'd like to throw in the ring for Ben:

John Lithgow

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/27/11 at 11:13pm

I'll explain a bit why I'm skewing the overall cast a bit older, in this case. A fifty-year-old woman in 1971 was perceived very differently than a fifty-year-old woman now.

Or to grab onto that cliche of the last decade: "50 is the new 40." It won't play well with audiences today if you cast it too young. Nobody will feel sorry for them getting older when someone the same age is in a "Sex in the City"-type film the same year.

You definitely could cast it younger, with everyone around Vanessa Williams's age (if she were Phyllis): add in a Sally played by Julianne Moore. A Buddy and Ben played by John C. Reilly and George Clooney. A Carolotta played by Jodie Foster. Back in 1971, that age group would work. I just think it wouldn't have the same power than if you added ten years to the film's cast today.

Updated On: 8/27/11 at 11:13 PM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/27/11 at 11:18pm

Best, I was actually going to point out the same thing. I remember even as a teen, when I first heard Follies and found out the story, I genuinely thought all the characters were ten or so years older than they were meant to be--I guess I hadn't really clued in yet to the difference age meant even a few decades before, and when I found out the scripted ages it did initially strike me as a bit absurd that some of them would feel so past their prime. on screen this probably will be even more of an issue with modern audiences.

(Similarly, I know in one class I took a number of the students had a hard time at first with Streetcar Named Desire and a mid 30s woman feeling so incredibly past her prime...)

[ComingUpRoses2]

Posted: 8/27/11 at 11:23pm

It's true! People age a lot more gracefully than they used to. Good Lord, look at Bernadette Peters! I have a hard time believing she's in her early 60's! She looks early 40's to me.

They can cast this two different ways...
1. With the ages specified in the script
or
2. Age the characters and give older actors a chance to sink their teeth into these roles.

I think it would be a little hard for some to see someone like a still vibrant and sexy Kim Catrall or Vanessa Williams playing such a bitter, world weary character like Phyllis, but hey, it happens. You can be 20 years old and look worn out and bitter.

I really hope this new revival sparks some more interest in a film version.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 12:34am

Phyllis should be more regal than "sexy." Meryl Streep is a better choice.

What the hell, let Bernadette Peters pay Sally. People in the Heartland know who she is.

John Lithgow as Ben is inspired. Of course, he's talented enough to play Buddy, if you prefer.

Add Cher as Carlotta and Bette Midler as Stella and I think we've got a picture!

[everythingISpossible]

Posted: 8/28/11 at 10:46pm

I just watched All That Jazz. Anyone else wonder what a film version by Bob Fosse would have been like? He should did a great job directing the screen version of that other Hal Prince stage musical...

[B3TA07]

Posted: 8/29/11 at 12:22am

Does Patricia Clarkson sing?

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 8/29/11 at 1:09am

To me, Kim Cattrall is fake "upper class" and always has been.

I am going to pretend I did not just read that comment...

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 8/29/11 at 1:36am

I think this would make a fantastic movie, and I'd love to see a version with an Aaron Sorkin screenplay. Or a PRS one. Actually, probably moreso the PRS.

[max2paradise]

Posted: 8/29/11 at 1:37am

My dream Phyllis is and always has been Stockard Channing. I'm really surprised she hasn't been mentioned yet.

I've also always been partial to Meryl Streep as Sally and Victor Garber as Ben. As for Buddy, I like John Lithgow or even Richard Gere.

[dreaming]

Posted: 8/29/11 at 11:17am

Assuming this doesn't get made for awhile, I think Catherine Zeta-Jones would be a great Phyllis. (I know I'll be attacked for saying it, but Jones would be very good in a few years from now.)

As for Sally, Toni Collette might be good.

Personally, I'd like the actors to be the right age for the roles-late 40s, early 50s.