Casting Bits: William Hurt In ‘The Host;’ Abbie Cornish In ‘Seven Psychopaths;’ Felicity Jones In ‘The Invisible Woman’
William Hurtis the latest addition toThe Host, the adaptation ofTwilightauthorStephenie Meyer’s sci-fi romance thatwill be directed byAndrew Niccol(In Time,Gattaca). The actor is in talks to play Jeb, “eccentric uncle” toSaoirse Ronan’s character Melanie. Ronan’s character has her mind taken over by an alien intelligence called Wanderer as part of an invasion. But Melanie fights off Wanderer’s dominance, and the girl’s love for a boy named Jared (Max Irons) ends up infecting the alien.Jake Abelwill playanother character named Ian, who has his own feelings for Wanderer. In addition to being Melanie’s uncle, Jeb is a leader of the human resistance to the alien effort.The Hostwill bereleasedon July 09, 2025. [EW]
After the break,Abbie Cornish joins the new film fromIn Brugesdirector Martin McDonagh, and Felicity Jones will play a lover of Charles Dickens, for director Ralph Fiennes.
One of the last times we talked aboutSeven Psychopaths, the new film fromIn BrugesdirectorMartin McDonaghand actorColin Farrell, it was becauseMickey Rourkehadshot his mouth offabout McDonagh as he explained that he wouldn’t do the movie after all. (Seven Psychopathsfeatures, in addition to Farrell,Christopher Walken,Tom Waits,Sam Rockwell,Woody HarrelsonandOlga Kurylenkoare in the film. It’ll probably do OK without Rourke.)
Now theNew York Daily Newssays thatAbbie Cornish(Bright Star,Sucker Punch,Limitless,W.E.) has a part in the film, as Kaya, the girlfriend of Farrell’s character.Seven Psychopathsis shooting now, so we can hope it’ll start to make some festival rounds before too long in 2012 — maybe Cannes? Here’s the plot:
From Oscar-winning writer and director Martin McDonagh comes a star-studded, blood-drenched, black comedy. Marty (Colin Farrell) is a struggling writer who dreams of finishing his screenplay Seven Psychopaths. All he needs is a little focus and inspiration. Billy (Sam Rockwell) is Marty’s best friend, an unemployed actor and part time dog thief, who wants to help Marty by any means necessary. Hans (Christopher Walken) is Billy’s partner in crime. A religious man with a violent past. Charlie is the psychopathetic gangster whose beloved dog, Billy and Hans have just stolen. Charlie’s unpredictable, extremely violent and wouldn’t think twice about killing anyone or anything associated with the theft. Marty is going to get all the focus and inspiration he needs, just as long as he lives to tell the tale.
Finally,Felicity Jones(Like Crazy, theupcomingWarren Beatty Howard Hughes film, if it ever happens) has been cast as Nelly Ternan in a film calledThe Invisible WomanthatRalph Fienneswill direct as his second feature. The film is based onClaire Tomalin’s book, and it follows Ternan, who was an actress and, at 18, a mistress of Charles Dickens, who was 45 at the time. Their affair lasted more than a decade, so Jones will get to play the character across a good span of time.
There is no casting for Dickens at this point — Fiennes was possibly going to play the role himself, but now will evidently find another actor — but this could be a great role for Jones, and an excellent project overall depending upon who gets the nod to play Dickens.Abi Morgan(Shame,The Iron Lady) wrote the script. [Daily Mail]
