Wicked Movie Casting — Page 3

Well, of course. Several musical films have cast really strong singers in this decade alone (yes, I'm aware there have been a fewmishaps) , so it has been taken "to that level". I highly doubt, however, that a Wicked film is going to create the next generation of musical film megastars.

Did you not see Into the woods, showface?!?! It created mega star singers! It was perfect in every way. It raised the bar for every musical film. There's never been a film better than Into the woods!

Showface, I have to disagree with that one, I haven't seen the level of singing that I'm looking for in any film of the last decade:

I'm talking about this kind of level of singing and acting combined:

Rachel Tucker No Good Deed

Updated On: 5/24/15 at 06:54 PM

Though there were people who did have a problem with the third act of the film which I could understand why, I did feel the third act was pretty rushed.

I was being sarcastic. The 2nd half of the film is terrible.

Showface, Chicago was not in this decade...it was 13 years ago.

Unfortunately I don't think I'll be happy with whoever they cast in this Wicked film because I was just too obsessed with it when I was 15 and saw the original cast 5 times. Those memories are too special for me. And I haven't liked who they've cast in many films that I've had high hopes for so I'm just expecting to be disappointed again.

This material is all about acting through sung notes. Too often the acting does not feel truthful because I see an actor struggling with the singing (les mis film), the singing does not feel natural enough for the person. Either the singing or acting will not feel truthful. The singing should be enhancing the acting instead of getting in the way, in fact, certain notes could work as "actors/emotion evokers" themselves.

The point is that they seem to deliberately ignore the people in the business that are best for the roles. I can't believe people like Amanda Seyfried and Anna Kendrick are even considered for this kind of material.

There are 10 outstanding actresses/singers that I can think of right now, that I would definitely screentest for the role of Elphaba if I was a producer, which could be amazing stars and set the screen on fire, visually, acting wise and musically, but they are probably not even invited because they already have Amanda Seyfried in mind.

The influcence of outstanding singing voices is one of the most underrated things in musicalfilms of the 21st century. It makes or breaks the film and the truthfulness of the acting. No one in the audience should ever ask themselves why the characters are actually singing, like I heard around me in the cinema while watching les Mis. it should feel natural from the first moment, not toned down or have compromised quality.

Updated On: 5/25/15 at 07:41 PM

The point is that they seem to deliberately ignore the people in the business that are best for the roles. I can't believe people like Amanda Seyfried and Anna Kendrick are even considered for this kind of material.

They're still in the development process right now, so they're not even casting yet! Who knows when it will actually be made? If it gets made within the next 5-10 years, they'll both probably end up being too old for the roles.

Updated On: 5/24/15 at 08:29 PM

"At the end of the day, Jen won because she was believed to be the best for it and they weren't wrong in that casting. You seem to be of the opinion that only Broadway actors should get roles in musical films. Who exactly would have have cast in Dreamgirls and Chicago?

I also have to ask, what did you think of Anika Noni Rose in dreamgirls? Was she also not up to par with the singing and acting?
Genuinely curious. "

I have to say that "Dreamgirls" was one of the slightly better musicalfilms, mainly because of Beyonce and Anika Noni Rose. After watching the film, I thought that those 2 were the only ones in the film who's acting was outstanding and very nuanced. A very big part of this is because they were able to act through sung notes. I feel that Jennifer is not a good actress at all, her spoken scenes are amateurish and her singing scenes feel disconnected from her intention. I just see a girl whaling, but she might as well could have whaled about any subject. This lack of "merging" is my biggest problem I suppose. In the les Mis film the acting intention is sometimes right, but the singing does not feel truthful and only distracts. What Jennifer does is the opposite, singing from the outside and it seems that the acting only distracts her. I am always looking for that combination, both singing and acting of a high level. And Meryl Streep etc, are nowhere near that level singing wise, so her singing performances always distract me and take me out of her acting.

Edit: There are also moments in Dreamgirls, like the "Lorell loves Jimmy" part, where Anika's singing is not good enough either and it takes me out of her acting too. It feels like she's distracted, performing from the outside and her singing kind of fails and misses the intention. So even with good/experienced/natural singers it is tricky and if there is the slightest struggle with singing it shows.(by that I mean incapability of merging both singing and acting, if one of those 2 isn't great it ruins the other) I always see it in an actor. It has nothing to do with the "supposed struggle of the character's story line". Although some actors love to use that as an excuse. So outstanding natural singers who master the craft of acting through sung notes should always be the basis for this material on film. Especially on film because we see everything.

Updated On: 5/25/15 at 06:08 AM

I think Anna Kendrick has a very whiny, dry, thin and childish voice, not suitable for this material at all.

Anna Kendrick For Good

It really is a choice to go for very downgraded generic quality in casting musicalfilms or go all the way.

Updated On: 5/25/15 at 09:35 AM

" But, that's something you'll get in EVERY musicalfilm nowadays, ESPECIALLY films like LesMis and Into the Woods, because songs are so prevalent in them, and because it is put in a realistic setting, where singing for speaking isn't realistic, moviegoers are sometimes thrown-off (and it probably didn't hurt that some movie-goers didn't do their research to know what kind of film was ahead of them).
But, it has nothing to do with who they cast in the roles."

I think it has everything to do with who they cast in the roles. People can adapt to the language of singing without any problem, as long as the singing quality is very high and feels natural. That is where people at the Les Mis film were thrown-off. They created some kind of unnatural-speak-sing style with suddenly a long vibrating note on the stangest syllables. It is clear they used people that do not understand the language of singing which makes it very odd and unnatural, almost cringe worthy at times. That's what made it look and sound distracting and forced in many scenes. They made the big mistake of toning it down, but that's not an option when the chosen language is singing. It is very important to go all the way with this kind of material. Understand the importance of that rare singing talent. They need people who understand the language of singing, only then the audience will fully engage. Speaking certain cyllables (toning down) and vibrate for 2 minutes (doing too much) on the wrong ones is not the solution.

Here is an example of Valjeans that sound truthful versus unnatural:

Example

Updated On: 5/25/15 at 07:39 PM

"Russell Crowe tweeted saying: "I don't disagree with Adam, sure it could have been sweetened, but Tom Hooper wanted it raw and real, so that's how it is."

And that's the big mistake in thinking. The chosen language is singing. That is per definition not realistic. So you need to create a language of storytelling that is larger than life. Toning it down, speak-singing, vibrate on the strangest syllables in a conversation in a 1 take shot does by no means equal "raw and real" on film. In fact, it makes it feel less real. Only real singing feels real in this case.

How can a professional film director make this mistake? I think it is the result of a director not understanding this material and the language of singing well enough, combined with an insecure producer who blindly trusts a film director that has only experience with spoken dialogue.

Take a look at the Valjean clip I posted to see what I mean. The Les Mis film clips are as unnatural as it can get. Edit: In comparison, all 3 theatre Valjeans in the clip appear to be very natural and filmic, they keep certain notes shorter, which is more natural, and the notes that need to be sung actually sound good en believable.

Updated On: 5/25/15 at 07:59 PM

Yes, the performances in the Les Mis film were SO dreadful. That's why Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway were both nominated for Oscars, with Hathaway taking one home.


I understand your viewpoint that the singing in the movie sucked, but clearly 70% of critics and several audience members (myself included) disagreed and/or were too moved by the acting and story to even care.

" I understand your viewpoint that the singing in the movie sucked, but clearly 70% of critics and several audience members (myself included) disagreed and/or were too moved by the acting and story to even care."

I think that more than 50% of the audience members cringed at multiple times. Especially because of the unnatural approach of the director and the artists. Like I said, "natural" lies in other things when the language is singing.

The director should at least have told Hugh Jackman that there is no need to speak certain notes and then vibrate for 2 minutes on the middle note (always the wrong one) If anything, he should have kept that middle note short too. And vice versa, the other notes (mostly long ones) should actually sound like singing, or else, what's the point of doing a long note.

In musical films, "natural/real and raw" lies in another language. The language of full, nuanced and layered singing, a way of storytelling that is not per se realistic or downgraded.

Imagine that Hugh Jackman actually sang "Listen to me, there is something I must do", instead of "Listen to me, there is something I must doeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeoeooeoeoeoeoeoeooeoe". Basically, understand the language of truthful singing a bit more. That would at least have helped half of the problem. (the other half being not capable of singing good notes the way they should be sung).

Updated On: 5/26/15 at 07:04 AM