The Follies Movie Casting Thread

[jv92]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 12:53am

Since I mentioned casting the Follies movie (Sondheim mentioned it's in development with Aaron Sorkin attatched to direct) in another thread, I thought it'd be fun to start a whole one devoted to the topic. I know we have lots of Follies fans that would like to share. I'm one of them. I'll start.

Sally- Catherine O'Hara
Ben- John Lithgow
Phyllis- Kelly Bishop
Buddy- Peter Gallagher
Carlotta- Liza
Hattie- Stritch
Stella- Rosie O'Donnell (Go ahead, shoot.)
Solange- Liliane Montevecchi (sp? I'm sure I mangled it)
Weissman- Peter O'Toole
Roscoe- Arthur Rubin
Emily Whitman- Donna McKechnie
Theodore Whitman- Joel Grey
Heidi- If only Julie Andrews still had her voice! I can't think of anyone!

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 1:28am

Kelly Bishop as Phyllis in the FOLLIES movie? No. She's too old for it on stage and in a film version she'd come off as everyone's mean undersexed grandma. Plus, the movie needs some MAJOR star wattage (much MORE than SWEENEY).
As I said in the other thread, Lithgow is way too old for Ben. Gallagher is too pretty for Buddy, I believe he was considered to play Ben in the revival. Either way he is not big enough to star in the movie.
And Liza is about twenty years too old for Carlotta.
My choices:
Sally- Toni Collette, Julianne Moore, Laura Linney, Helena Bonham Carter, or Debra Messing.
Phyllis- Mary-Louise Parker, Jodie Foster, Vanessa Williams, Salma Hayek.
Carlotta- Salma Hayek or Jane Krakowski.
Ben- Will Smith, Patrick Dempsey, George Clooney, Richard Gere.
Buddy- Antonio Banderas, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Johnny Depp, John C. Reilly, Tom Hanks.

[Barihunk]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 8:46am

Ray - considering that reading "Jane Krakowski or Selma Hayek" as Carlotta made me do a spit take with my morning coffee, I'm going to assume you confused your musicals (Carlotta "I'm Still Here"/Follies with Carla/Nine). The thought of Jane Krakowski belting out "I'm Still Here" makes me giggle. To paraphrase Elaine Stritch "I'm still here - where has she been?"

[Gothampc]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 9:16am

Stritch has already played Hattie in the concert version. I doubt she wants to revisit that role, especially with her animosity over Carol Burnett getting Carlotta.

{Bang!!) I shot you for thinking Rosie could play Stella. The character of Stella has to dance. She leads the "Who's That Woman?" number and in a screen musical this would have to be a huge production number. The thought of Rosie dancing makes me retch.

Here's my cast. Yeah, it's not gonna pull in the younger generation, but so what. It can play the art houses.

Sally - Elaine Paige
Buddy - Victor Garber
Phyllis - Beverly D'Angelo
Ben - Kelsey Grammer
Carlotta - Tina Turner (I'm Still Here; Give her "Ah, But Underneath")
Hattie - Bernadette Peters (Broadway Baby)
Stella - Bette Midler(Who's That Woman?)
Emily Whitman - Chita Rivera
Theodore Whitman - Joel Grey
Solange - Lindsay Duncan
Roscoe - Nathan Lane
Weisman - Tony Bennett (sings a newly written song about the Follies)

Posted: 1/21/08 at 9:22am

i would love to live in a world where Catherine O' Hara could be cast as SALLY!

[philcrosby]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 9:39am

Ben - Kevin Kline
Phyllis - Glenn Close
Buddy - James Naughton
Sally - Meryl Streep

Carlotta - Eartha Kitt (I know she's too old, I don't care!)
Hattie - Debbie Reynolds
Stella - Shirley Maclaine

[jv92]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 10:04am

Kevein Kline as Ben. Now that's more like it!
Oh, I didn't know Stritch was angry she didn't get to play Carlotta at the concert. Shirley Maclaine seems like a better choice.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 10:15am

"Oh, I didn't know Stritch was angry she didn't get to play Carlotta at the concert."

Truthfully, I'm not sure that Stritch actually wanted the role of Carlotta, but she made a comment about Burnett playing the role. It was something to the effect of "The actress that sings I'm Still Here needs to have gone through something in order for it to have meaning." Then Stritch asked "What has she [Burnett] gone through?" It seemed to me that Stritch was saying that Burnett didn't deserve the role.

Updated On: 1/21/08 at 10:15 AM

[desiree armfeldt]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 10:15am

Treat Williams needs to be in it.


and debra messing?? A little bit too young me thinks.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 10:36am

Kevin Kline and Phillip Seymour Hoffman? Love it!
Ben: Kevin Kline
Buddy: Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Phyllis: Mary Louise Parker or Michelle Pfeiffer (both would deliver a fierce "Could I Leave You" and a smoking "Story of Lucy and Jessie")
Sally: Laura Linney (the more I hear it the more I like it)
Stella: Shirley McClaine
Hattie: Debbie Reynolds
Carlotta:...still don't know

As much as I love Meryl, I really don't see a spot for her in this. Maybe as Joanne in a Company movie, or Desiree in A Little Night Music remake (or rather, re-do).

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 11:45am

People seem to be quite mistaken in terms of the character of Carlotta. The song has been performed by a number of legendary (and older) women in the cabaret/concert circuit, and some productions tend to cast the role with women old enough to live through all the references put in the song. I used to think that Carlotta had to be played by an older woman who has survived through a lot in life, in that sense, the Shirley McLane, Eartha Kitt, and Liza choices make sense.
However, if you watch the show and read up on it, you realize that Carlotta should be played by an actress that is the same age of the four principals. Yvonne DeCarlo wasn't a woman singing her swan song about the life she survived when Sondheim wrote the song for her, she was a diva claiming that she had been through all that but had decades left of life to survive, she was still here for good.
Carlotta should be sexy (she had an affair with Ben and after his fight with Phyllis and the Sally fiasco in the party, Ben wants to sleep with her), aging, and strong.
If the film is made in about five years or so, I can definitely see Jane Krakowski doing a wonderful job with the role (people forget there is more to Carlotta that the one song, it's a great featured role).

[keen on kean]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 11:56am

I do not want Helena Bonham Carter near another singing role, especially any one as demanding as either of the female leads in FOLLIES.

I love some of the casting ideas being thrown around (George Clooney as Ben seems so perfect), but do we know if any of these people can sing? I mean, REALLY sing, not just get by.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 11:59am

"I mean, REALLY sing, not just get by."

Yes please!! Especially Carlotta who has to be able to carry "I'm Still Here". No more movie musicals like Evita where the dramatic musical moments are removed because the actress can't hit the notes.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 12:08pm

It's a movie, this is more about actors singing than about singers who can act.
I do not want Helena Bonham Carter near another singing role, especially any one as demanding as either of the female leads in FOLLIES.

Okay, Sally is admittedly a vocally demanding role, but Phyllis? The role was written for Alexis Smith who told Sondheim that she wasn't much of a singer, Lee Remick played the role in the Lincoln Center concert (and while she could carry a tune, she was no singer), and Blythe Danner played her in the revival. Again, she's no singer either.
I think Carter's imperfect voice is perfect for Sally, and she would be able to bring so much torment and edge to the role. Her "Too Many Mornings" would be heart-breaking.
If you want a Sally who can sing, then cast Toni Collette (who reads older on screen), especially if the movie is done in a few years from now.
Mary-Louise Parker is my top choice for Phyllis, she would be so sharp and brilliant.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 12:20pm

Sally - Olivia Newton-John
Buddy - John Travolta

It just makes sense on so many levels.

[keen on kean]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 3:15pm

Sally may have been portrayed by non-singers in past productions but when you see a real singer do it (as in Encores! FOLLIES last year), there is so much more to enjoy in the role. I could see Toni Collette.

[LadyRosecoe]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 4:52pm

Sally needs to absolutely be a real singer, I don't see how anyone can fake singing those notes, and even though I loved her in ST, Helena couldn't sing it. If she did, it would need to be severely altered.

Rosie as Stella I think personally would be great. She is lively and Stella does not have the same dancing to do as the other six women. She leads it in song, but is ultimately in the center at the end when they dance in a circle around her and even gets a break halfway through as she dances past the line of women!

And Goth, "Ah, But Underneath" I couldn't imagine working for Carlotta when it was intended for Phyllis and the lyrics suggest that based on how you interpret the role. I think it really plays down the volcano inside of her, all that has been iced over all those years of sadness and bitterness.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 4:52pm

Keen, I was referring to Phyllis (a role created for an actress who was admittedly not a singer), not Sally. Sally is usually played by actresses who sing beautifully: Dorothy Collins, Barbara Cook, Donna McKechnie, Kim Crosby, Victoria Clark, etc.
I still think that Carter would bring so much beauty, torment, and heart-break to the role that I would not mind losing the high notes and clear soprano quality of the role.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 5:12pm

"And Goth, "Ah, But Underneath" I couldn't imagine working for Carlotta when it was intended for Phyllis and the lyrics suggest that based on how you interpret the role."

It could definitely work for Carlotta depending on how it was weaved into the movie.

[jewishboy]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 5:38pm

Phyllis: Annette Bening, Catherine Zeta-Jones or Mary Louise Parker
Sally: Sally Field, Laura Linney or Renée Zellweger
Ben: Richard Gere, Kevin Spacey or Daniel Day-Lewis
Buddy: Paul Giamatti, Kevin Kline or John C. Reilly
Carlotta: Goldie Hawn, Stockard Channing or Kathleen Turner (I really don't think Krakowski works for this role, sorry Ray)
Stella: Bette Midler
Hattie: Shirley McLaine or Debbie Reynolds
Solange: Leslie Caron


Updated On: 1/21/08 at 05:38 PM

[jv92]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 5:46pm

Why didn't I think of Leslie Caron as Solange?

"Lee Remick played the role in the Lincoln Center concert (and while she could carry a tune, she was no singer)"

I would much rather hear Lee sing than some people that perform on Broadway today. She could do a little more than carry a tune.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 6:07pm

Lee Remick was wonderful, I love her rendition of the songs in ANYONE CAN WHISTLE, but she was no singer, just because she knew how to sell a song doesn't mean that she had a good singing voice--far from it, IMO.
Jewishboy, I know my Krakowski choice is very very odd, but I just think everyone's choices are way too old for this role. Encores! had the right idea casting Baranski in the role, unfortunately she was lackluster as nothing but that had nothing to do with her age. Just go back to Yvonne DeCarlo, she was contemporary with Collins and Smith not with Ethel Shutta. Krakowski has made a career out of poking fun at her sexuality, her role in 30 ROCK mocks the fact that she is an aging ex-sexual vixen. I can just see it.
Catherine Zeta Jones is a safer choice though and she could sing the song.
I do love your Daniel Day-Lewis suggestion! Wonderful! However, Kevin Spacey as Ben? Huh? To me, he'd work as Buddy though.

[MomofOZ]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 6:15pm

If I can put my 2 cents in...I think philcrosby's cast is perfect : Ben - Kevin Kline
Phyllis - Glenn Close
Buddy - James Naughton
Sally - Meryl Streep
But I'd take out James Naughton ( another that's too pretty). I like the thought of John C. Reilly...it's a tough one. :)

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 6:17pm

Phyllis is definitely not a demanding singing role. Sally needs to be the singer, she needs a soprano register. But Helena Bonham Carter could definitely handle Phyllis vocally.

[jewishboy]

Posted: 1/21/08 at 6:19pm

I don't know, I can see Kevin Spacey playing someone who is very out of touch with his life (and he looks very real in a suit). Also, he is stiffer than what is required for Buddy (this comes from his performances in American Beauty and The Usual Suspects). Actually, replace Kevin Spacey with Warren Beatty (who is a fan of Sondheim, I think) and then you would definitely have to cast Annette Bening!

I just think Jane Krakowski is too white bread. I don't mean that as a real insult I just think that she's the type of person who would be serving the drinks at the party instead of guzzling them down. And although Yvone De Carlo was contemporary she was ten years older than Jane Krakowski and her voice had this withering sound to it that really brought all the layers of the song out. I thought Goldie Hawn was an interesting choice (kind of an older Jane Krakowski).