Elizabeth Olsen is about to become Dragonfly Enemy #1. Which is too bad, because by all accounts Elizabeth is a lovely person. Still, it will be fun to see how she interacts with Tom Hiddleston and his crazy fanbase, because that’s exactly what’s going to happen next month. Olsen has been cast in I Saw the Light. She will be playing Hank Williams’ first wife, Audrey Mae.
Elizabeth Olsen has joined “The Avengers” star Tom Hiddleston in the Hank Williams biopic “I Saw the Light,” and will play his wife, Audrey Mae.
Brett Ratner’s RatPac Entertainment, Bron Studios and Creative Wealth Media Finance are producing and financing. Production is scheduled to begin in October in Louisiana. Veteran producer Marc Abraham will direct from his own script, which is based on the 1994 book “Hank Williams: The Biography” by Colin Escott, George Merritt and William MacEwen.
Producers have obtained rights from Sony ATV for Williams’ songs, including “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “I”m So Lonesome I Could Cry” and “Hey Good Lookin’.”
Williams was born in 1923 in Alabama and broke out in the post-World War II era with the song “Move It on Over.” Among his hits are “Lost Highway,” “Jambalaya (on the Bayou),” “Ramblin’ Man,” “You Win Again” and “Lovesick Blues.”
He suffered from spina bifida and died at age 29 of heart failure after struggling with alcoholism and addiction to prescription pills. Olsen recently completed “The Avengers: Age of Ultron” and was seen this summer in “Godzilla.” She is repped by Gersh and Brillstein Entertainment.
I was reading Hank Williams’ Wiki and it looks like Audrey wasn’t just Hank’s wife, she was his manager as well. They were married in 1944 and divorced in 1952, when Hank was a full-blown alcoholic and morphine addict (spoiler?). There were other women in his life too, so there’s more casting news to come. It will be interesting to see who else joins the cast, especially the woman that he sort-of married after Audrey.
Just FYI: Olsen has a fiancé. She is engaged to Boyd Holbrook (seen in the photo below). They have been together for two years or so and he proposed this past February/March. They live together. I’m just saying… nothing is going to happen between Elizabeth and Tommy. If Tommy was going to go for an American girl nicknamed Lizzie, I was really hoping it would Lizzie Moss.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Heh, I guess I’m just not in proper fangirl mode, because my reaction to that was, “Yay!” She’s a talented actress whose career is going really well right now, which is a good sign about the movie.
Right up there with you. I guess those of us who don’t freak out any time he interacts w/a co-star aren’t proper Dragonflies.
Yes, this is good news for the film.
I started fancying him recently, after I didn’t quite get all the hype around him for a long time, he is adorable.
I was happy about this casting news too.
I think the dragonflies are adoring but sane Kaiser. The hiddlestoners not so much. She was very good in martha marcy etc etc, promising casting.
I thought the same too but I have been stripped of my Dragonfly membership already so no wonder there…
You can always be reinstated.
Seriously! She’s a good actress. I don’t understand the belief that she’s not at his level.
?? I haven’t run into that–there has been much discussion on FB about her lesser known movies, where evidently she displays quite a lot of talent. I just think more extreme Dragonflies will conviently ignore her engagement and ship them.
I had no idea who she is so am blissfully neutral. Jessica Chastain and older Sienna Miller survived so I am sure Lizzie well. I think there are going to be lots of ladies in this film he interacts but I have always felt one of his strengths is his romantic interactions with female co stars.
I do seem to remember having read a good review with her name in it.
She’s very good in Martha Marcy May Marlene, and she’ll be The Scarlet Witch in the upcoming Avengers movie as well. She was also in Kill Your Darlings with Daniel Radcliffe and Godzilla. I’d agree her part in the latter was very bland, but that movie made Bryan Cranston and Aaron Taylor-Johnson seem a bit bland too.
Basically, she does the usual mix of indie pieces and big studio films. I wouldn’t be surprised if she becomes A Thing after Age of Ultron is released.
Lunchcoma it must have been Killing You Darlings because it is way up there on my films to see/buy and I was tracking reviews.
Kill Your Darlings doesn’t have much for the female characters to do. She basically just gives Jack Huston’s Kerouac character reasons to arrive or leave. That movie is pretty much all about the guys. Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene was a powerful performance for her. Perhaps it has something to do with relating to co-stars? John Hawkes was in that one too.
The first thing I saw her in was Martha Marcy May Marlene and I thought she was fantastic but have found her so dull in every other role.
She was excellent in that. She was also good in Silent House. It’s not the best movie but she’s pretty good in it.
It’s the only thing I’ve seen her in and I agree – she was fab.
Same here.
She looks lovely in those photos, wow!
Her fiancé is very attractive judging by this photo.
Hope the movie is well executed as I’d like to see it if it is done well.
I am no dragonfly.
Good for her! I LOVE Tom, and there’s already a lot of buzz around this movie. I think his actual fans aren’t going to care that she was casted. And she does seem like a sweet person.
She’s really gonna blow up next year and be a big star with the Avengers.
Oh she’s engaged to the one she made a movie with, Very good girls, if I remember right.
Why would his fans, even the kinda nuts ones,go after a co star? He can’t be in movies by himself. I’m glad all I know of these nuts fans are from other sites/posters talking about them.
Agree. Are his “dragonflies” 12 year olds with twitter accounts? Doubt it. There should be a level of maturity for his fans to exercise.
the “ruh-roh” made me wonder what the big deal was. I’ve been deceived.
I do not think they will go after her either but there are some people who like to criticise anyone who comes close to him but to my mind they are not really fans.
@FLORC That’s 67% of the Dragonfly demographic. The other 33% are women over 50. Neither group is known to display rational or objective thought processes. I think it’s too much estrogen.
As a woman over fifty, I sincerely hope that’s an attempted Joke. Not sure it came off…
@Ann Tommy I second that. That random demographics of raised estrogen levels as you so nicely put it probably could be randomly applied to most fans who experience weight gain and raised fertility. Where as lowered estrogen levels is more like to result in low self esteem ,mood swings and depression .
So let us thank the lord for HRT which pretty much balances all the demographics out but sadly does not help with the obliteration of bad jokes.
way to put down just about every type of woman who’s a fan with sweeping generalizations *slow claps*
Way to put down anyone with estrogen.
I can’t wait to hear Hanks grandsons complaint on this, since he has bitched about this movie every step of the way.
She’s probably too Hollywood for him but won’t be as agitated about it because it’s not a part he thinks he could do himself.
I don’t know he may ask Dolly to borrow her wig and rhinestones jackets and he will say its a chance to kiss and make up with Tom.
haha right? I wish the studio would just come out and say: “Hey, guy? If we’re doing such an awful job, pony up some cash and make your own movie. Then you can cast whoever you want”
@TX, he has two albums and a tour to promote and he is not doing well financially. This is all just publicity to draw people out to his tour.
yup it has pretty much been about him wanting to play Hank.
There is a short 30 min documentary on you tube and he sings a song a Hank song in that.
There was also some discussion as to whether young Hank was brought up in a boarding house masquerading as a brothel.It talks about his back issues as a child and adult how they think now it was related to possible Spina Bifida hence the morphine addiction.
Did the grandson want to play Hank himself?
ETA: Never mind. Should have finished reading first.
I strongly suspect his complaining has to do with the fact that he’s not making any money on licensing the song rights. The Williams family went through a bitter, bitter battle with Hank’s illegitimate daughter, Jett, born after he died. Ultimately, Hank Jr. and Jett worked it out and joined forces to battle Hank Sr.’s old label in order to obtain the rights to his complete song catalog (which they eventually did). But when the courts awarded the rights to the Hank Williams Estate, Hank Jr. and Jett were the only executors. Aunt Jett cut out Hank III as a claimant. He won’t get anything from the estate until he inherits from Hank Jr., and even then Nashville gossip has it that Hank Jr. and Jett might leave the whole thing to an impartial trust, since Hank Sr.’s catalog is one of the most important “artifacts” in American music history and they don’t want to risk it being broken up should further family squabbling ensue in the next generations.
It’s just curious to me that Hank Jr. and Jett have not been heard complaining about Tom’s casting, yet Hank III can’t shut up.
He might not get anything from Hank Jr since they are not on good terms. It makes sense for the estate to be put in trust, although they can also carve him out of the trust. His most recent complaints took the form of a personal insult at Tom and I love that Tom has responded with silence. So classy. If Hank3 was hoping to start a feud for the purpose of more PR, he isn’t going to get it. Next he’ll be whining that Tom is an elitist (with the currently popular incorrect definition being applied), because Shakespeare, and we can’t have an elitist portraying an Amurkin icon.
They are allowing access to Hank’s songs so they must have had some faith in the director to make decisions they were happy with.
Rodney has given him the low down on “There’s a Tear in My Beer”Hank 3.
Can we just take a moment to envisage Rodney and Tom locked away somewhere with nothing but their guitars and a bottle of beer. This really does warm the cockles of my musician loving heart.
Love her! She’s a great actress. Also, not everyone wants a piece of Hiddles.
She was nominated for a BAFTA Rising Star Award as were Tom and Chris H
she’s very pretty, I can’t wait to see the chemistry on film. I may have mentioned this elsewhere, but do you think she screen tested with Tom in London during the summer break? when he may have been catching up with his Avengers buddies. I find this odd, that two Avengers alumni are the lead in this film, the buzz is going to be huge. 🙂 which I am happy about.
This could be a MARVELous movie…. 🙂
“MARVELous “OUCH but well done
Lizzie Olsen is a great actress… but she seems to pick really questionable films post Martha Marcy May Marlene. Avengers is obviously a great choice but other than that, I haven’t seen/heard of any “OmG ePiC” sort of films. She may be doing the new King Arthur film with the gorgeous Charlie Hunnam, so that may turn out well but again… would really love to see her career take off big time.
She may not have been offered anything great. Her part in Godzilla was just to look worried but several Academy Award nominees and winners were also reduced to just looking worried and doing nothing in that film.
She did well in her nothing role in Godzilla, I remember her from it.
This is good though, it makes it obvious that she has real talent instead of just getting awesome roles immediately because she’s “The Olsen Twins’ Sister.” She has a solid background in indie films too, which gives her credit as a serious actress. It would be really easy to attribute any fame she achieves to nepotism but the way she approached having a career in acting makes that accusation much less harder to substantiate.
She is very pretty, but the dialect coach will be getting paid overtime. I thought she was pretty bland in Liberal Arts.
I didnt realise Brett Ratner was behind this film.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He’s a better producer than director honestly.
All the better, I hope, to let Tom lead on the character development with Marc Abraham who is absolutely passionate about Hank W.
Well, I will always love her, if for no other reason than she is at a healthy, normal weight. So nice to see.
She was amazing in Martha Marcy May Marlene. But she’s been bland as beige in everything else post-MMMM. She’s not had a lot of screen presence or chemistry with her co-starts post-MMMM. Liberal Arts was blah. She was forgettable in Kill Your Darlings. Godzilla — the less said about that entire thing for everyone involved the better. I hope this part and film recaptures that talent and presence she showed in MMMM because I’d really like to believe what she showed in MMMM wasn’t just a one-off.
WHAT?!?! I HATE her! NOOOO! She is EVIL!
Okay, totally kidding. I do adore my Tommy, but really, I hope people don’t start hating on her just because she got a role in a film. That sort of crosses the line from super secret boyfriend lover to creepy obsessed fan. Yikes!
I can’t wait to see her in The Avengers. She didn’t have too much to do in Godzilla, but she is playing one of my favorite Marvel characters from the comic books. I’m hoping she is gonna rock it.
Hah! But you can picture it happening, right? Actually, if any of his co-stars were going to cause a kerfuffle amongst the fangirls, my money would have been on Sienna Miller. Given her (shall we say exuberant?) personal history, if the fandom was going to melt down about someone sullying the Unicorn Prince I thought it would have been her. Although, now that I think about it, I do kind of see them as a couple…maybe I’ll let my bet ride until after the press tour (if there is one) for High Rise.
to Ben Hur or not to Ben Hur, any gossip, anyone? the Morgan Freeman announcement means it’s moving, but I am still on the side of Richard 11.
😀 all the talk of Hollow Crown 2 has got be intrigues for Shakespearean stuff and I want Hiddles back in velvet and gold crowns, and maybe a nice David Tennant style long dark wig 🙂 I miss dark haired Tom. The blonde is nice, but unless it’s full curls I prefer the dark.
Lots of Shakespeare being filmed lately – although I wasn’t really paying much attention until recently so maybe I’m just noticing more. Is it wise to play Richard II so soon after Ben Whishaw won an award for his portrayal?
I’m seeing a production of Cymbeline this weekend in Vancouver. The actor playing Cloten/Posthumus is also playing Aviragus as well – and is getting rave reviews all around. Since I’ll never get to see Tommy in the Cheek By Jowl version this may be the next best thing – or better.
Oh – and I hope Ben Hur moves forward without Tom. I just can’t…no words. Ugh.
There is also set modern times but where as Cheek by Jowl brought out the humour this production is more serious. Cloten and Posthumus are not normally played by two actors but in smaller companies actors often double up on roles
In the film Clotun is played by Anton Yelchin , Posthumis by Penn Badgley and Aviragus by Harley Ware
@ ‘P’enny -om would probably say he just prefers to have some hair!! 🙂
@ Dara – but how many people world wide saw Ben wHishaw in Richard II?
And David Tennant’s stage performance got broadcast into theaters just a few months ago. But I too would prefer Richard II over Ben Hur and I don’t see him turning down the chance to work with James Ivory, who is 86. He may not get such an opportunity again. After that, back to the stage and then somebody please give him a dark comic farce.
@Joe – I hope most of Tom’s fans that sought him out in the Hollow Crown would have also seen the HC Richard II. It’d be a shame if they skipped it just to drool over Hiddles. And I forgot about David Tennant’s turn. So that would be 3 Richard II’s in fairly short order. Is is possible for the Bard to be overexposed? Not that I’m complaining…
Wish they’d branch out into some of the other plays. I know Merchant of Venice and Taming of the Shrew aren’t exactly PC (and some would say downright offensive), but it would be interesting to see someone give them a modern spin. I keep picturing Shrew as a Bollywood romantic comedy, but I need to re-read it to see if I’m completely offbase.
I am bummed that Me Before You didn’t work out – that had me excited, and I have a secret girl crush on Emilia Clark.
@Dara, Al Pacino did Merchant of Venice fairly recently and there is a modernized Taming of the Shrew with a young and delectable Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, and Joseph Gordon-Levett called 10 Things I Hate About You.
Witch of a spider! 😜
I’m not a fan of ben w in richard 11, way over the top and camp. If Ivory is planning an historical accurate richard 11. Bring it on 😃
‘P’enny–I’m with you–the near universal raves for Ben W in Hollow Crown perplexed me. Ben was WAAAY over the top (though it really did work in the let us speak of kings scene) and the whole thing struck me as a somewhat homoerotic valentine from the director. Then again, I don’t get Rory Kinnear’s appeal either. Though I’ve only seen him in HC and the Bond flick. That I can remember, anyway–and even that’s a struggle. 😉
Historically accurate Richard II in 3D! Because Tom with flowing locks in a flowing robe needs to be in 3D.
@Lilac – I missed Pacino. I do remember 10 Things (it was filmed at a friend’s high school), but that was years ago – 1999?. To me, a modern adaptation can’t just be a storyline Shakespeare used – it has to have his language too. Otherwise, what’s the point? Most of the time he ‘borrowed’ his plots from other sources. It was his language that makes the plays special.
Agree with everyone that Ben’s portrayal was a little out there – but he made a splash, and that will invite the inevitable comparisons.
@lilacflowers And the cod piece in 3-d 😃 no marvel smudging, hopefully another cod piece the size of prince Hal. Lol❤️
Sorry I mean I look forward to beautifully delivered lines & England’s great lands.
@P’enny My take on Ben’s performance was that it was a intriguing and excellent performance however the way the play was cut and the general weakness in the overall cast (partly due to cuts). led to it being a star turn. Sometimes it was just edging into high drama.
Tennant’s version was more balanced and his acting was equally as good. He was much nastier in the early scenes and you could really see why people disliked him
Mind you Shakespeare maligned Richard 11 as much as he did Richard 111.With Richard 11 it was all about not upsetting the current queen nit sure about Richard 111.
@Lilacflowers I think Taming of the Shrew would be great for Tom -he could really rock the insults, arrogance and humour. The Heath Ledger film although enjoyable was so far removed from the Shakespeare version I think a remake would work
@Totally Biased the initial reviews from the UK papers were notthat good for Richard 11 -many expressed disappointment at how badly it use the filming medium and were a mixed about Ben’s performance which i.e why I never understood it winning the critics award.
@icerose, didn’t Elizabeth I’s family take the monarchy after the fall of Richard III? it would be understandable that Shakespeare would want to portray him as a monster so that the Queen’s grandfather would seem justified in taking his crown.
@Lilac flowers yes the same motivation as Richard 11.All the kings after Richard 11 were descended from those involved in his removal from the throne even the Tudors who were linked through John of Gaunt.S o painting his overthrow as the result of a malignant disturbed king was the politically correct thing to do at that time. He was not a a good king but not the unpredictable mincing king as Shakespeare painted him
@Liliac Elizabeth I great grandfather was Edward Iv and he was Richard iii’s older brother. Richard iii apparently killed Edward v who Edward iv’s oldest son and king at the time. As Edward v sister married Henry Vii (who defeated and killed Richard iii) it probably meant he wasn’t very popular within the family.
It was basically like a game of thrones but real.
@Ellen, I know that Henry VI, who killed Richard III, was Elizabeth’s grandfather. I was asking why icerose said that Shakespeare would want to portray Richard II in a bad light to curry favor with Elizabeth.
‘Ellen Some historians argue that there is no proof that he had the princes in the tower killed or was responsible for all the purported murders that tool place under his reign.
http://www.richard111.com/richard_iii__shakespeare.htm#The_Death_of_George_of_Clarence
yes I saw the Morgan Freeman thing which did make me feel a bit better if he has accepted the role but yes to Richard 11 but no to Tennant type long hair-no everyone plays him with long hair -how about some longish curls.
Not more long hair pleeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaassssssssseeeeeee! And Richard II never has long hair in his portraits. Actually it was sort of ginger and curly in many…………………………!
http://972mag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Richard_II_of_England_large.jpg
Funnil enough I watched the 4 Hollow Crown episodes on BBC back in 2012 and thought the same about Whishaw. But when i watched it again on DVD I enjoyed it a lot more.
The first time I saw Tom was in this series and his “I do, I will” and the interaction with Jeremy Irons when he got summonsed to court, and ended with slapped face raised the hairs on the back of my neck, I was so impressed.
That scene and the one in which he imitated Irons and the death scene made the whole series for me. The interaction between the two of them was so powerful. I can’t wait to see them together in High-Rise.
The Hollow Crown’s Richard II just felt off to me. I thought the performances were good but some of the director’s decisions undercut them.
The play scene between Simon Beale and Tom just rocked me and the bit where he turns him away at court had m in tears.The charisma between him and Irons was the dark chocolate fudge icing on the cake.The Henry’s for me had brilliant r ensemble acting.No one put a foot wrong and I have watcged it a dozen times just for the perfomances.
The Donmar is just starting a run of an all women’s Henry 1v pt 1/2 which I plan to get tickets for.
@icerose, that Donmar production should be interesting. I have watched the Madrid Times Talk with Tom, which Irons attended, in which he explained how Irons helped him prepare for that tavern trial scene. The mutual admiration and respect between the two was quite remarkable. However, as good as that scene was, the highlight for me was when Tom jumped up on the table.
Can’t believe nobody has mentioned the sauna scene. 🙂
@joe spider The marshhiddle fandom will be fore ever grateful to Richard Eyre’s gratuitous sauna scene in which we all got to wonder how many times Tom’s towel slipped during filming and were there any outtakes?
@joe spider
The sauna scene is quite possible the most horny scene ever filmed in Shakespeare, the look on Hiddles face when he turns to his friend and asks him about his character and reputation – went from laughing, to almost sad and to great dare tell me the truth, then? and then straight on to making a plan, he was as quick as lightening with approximately four different emotions in two minutes.
@joe spider, I was posting whilst doing mindless yet time-consuming maintenance stuff in work and dared not even think of the sauna scene. Ah, the sauna scene! “Must I marry your sister?”
This link has always been my favorite review of The Hollow Crown because “the sauna scene.” http://janeshakespeare.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2012-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2013-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=12
@ Lilacflowers – thanks for that link – a really interesting review of the whole series.
I don’t actively like or dislike her but do find her so underwhelming. Red Lights, Liberal Arts, Very Good Girls… then there was the ill-advised Oldboy remake.
it is official Justin Kroll Variety film reporter has tweeted
” Just to be very clear, Hiddleston passed on the part three months ago, he will not be BEN-HUR””
Well done Tom and nice to know he is as picky as we think he is. Roll on Richard 11 and Journey’s End or any other surprises he has for us.
But please not to many way out there castings – as fun as it is my worry beads are close to breaking on his behalf.
That’s good to hear. A remake of a classic movie that people still regularly watch is asking for trouble. I’m not terribly surprised he passed, but there was a little tinge of worry that being the lead in a large studio film might be so tempting that it would override all the other concerns.
thank F”@£ for that!
+1
Glad to hear it but also glad to know that studios are seeking him out and being public about it. If he passed on it three months ago, then he either is planning on taking a break after ISTL, which is understandable, or he already has something lined up for the beginning of 2015, in which case James Ivory’s statements make sense. Lately he hasn’t been announcing projects too far in advance, usually announcing the next one as he begins the current one, which is a wise strategy.
“Lately he hasn’t been announcing projects too far in advance,”
Particularly after what happened to “Black Wings Has My Angel” and “Close Enough” – he put a lot of time into that last one just to have it collapse on him.
I think it’s wise of him not to announce too far in advance as well. The only reason to really do that is if his plate is fairly empty and he wants to look busy in the future if not the present, and having done two movies back to back takes that pressure off for awhile.
I don’t know if turning this down had much to do with his plans for 2015, though. Did anyone here think it sounded like a good idea? Presumably he and his agent have some common sense as well and realize that it’s hard to recreate a classic role and that this movie may attract controversy in a bad way. It also may have turned him off personally – this role is pretty close to the sort of thing he gets typecast as and may not have been very interesting to him, or perhaps the religious angle didn’t do much for him (he’s never seemed extraordinarily devout, and in general, I haven’t met many English people who are gung ho about faith in the way that the subset of Americans this movie seems to be targeting are).
@lunchcoma, all good points but he apparently turned down “Me Before You” as well. He may not have liked what MGM was offering or he may be in negotiations for several other projects of which we are unaware or he may have already committed to projects or he may want to take a break after Coriolanus/three straight films (possibly four if Avengers rumors are true) and he has to prepare for Thor III. Also, Branagh said several months ago that he is trying to pull together another project with Tom so there’s that out there too.
@Lilac, where did you see that mention of potential project with Branagh? I’m curious.
@jammypants, when Branagh was doing PR for “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit” last winter, he mentioned in several interviews that he wanted to revisit “Much Ado About Nothing” in some form – either for stage or television – and he wanted Tom as Benedick and he was talking to producers about it.
I like her and she’s a very good actress. Her sisters are well very strange.
I can’t wait to hear who else has joined. It’s getting exciting now
nvm
How does one know for certain if they’re a dragon fly? I have vivid fantasies about performing unspeakable acts with Loki … but don’t really care who Hiddles has an onscreen coupling with.
I think that qualifies bettyrose. Is Loki wearing his helmet in these dreams? Extra dragonfly points for that…
Loki. . . helmet. . . * fans self * . . . thunk. *passes out*
I do believe that qualifies you as a dragonfly. Hiddlestoners are the nutty ones who obsess about every female who shares his air space.
I think the bulk of the Hiddlestoners are fine about his co stars and romantic interests. It is just a small minority who seem to thrive on tearing apart just about every female he comes into contact with him as well as some of his fans.
Dragonflies just like to have fun and Marshhiddeles glow with pride for his acting and dorkiness.
If Tom passed on Ben Hur 3 months ago I wonder why the rumours only started about 1 month ago. Or am I being naive and they were trying to drum up support for the film?
Also – if Tom turned this down does this mean he can afford to now because he has more offers on the table, or just that he didn’t fancy it?
@joe spider: Some posters on IMDb have suggested that it must be some kind of rivalry between sites like Deadline, The Wrap, Variety etc.
Re: what this means: I have no idea, but I think that all that matters is the very fact that he turned down a lead role in a potential blockbuster – which would put Paramount’s PR machine behind him but which is potentially fraught with racial, religious and quality issues. Smart boy!
Also, re: Olsen: imo excellent casting choice, she’s got talent and she’s got a very interesting and memorable kind of beauty. ISTL is getting more and more exciting!
Oh and Hank III, please harp on – you’re so unabashedly double-faced in your worries that poor Hiddleston is getting so much flack already that I want to see more!
He can afford to. Tom entered acting well off and had one big payday project already, so there’s no worry about gaps or lack of work. Parts usually puck the actor but for those lucky enough like Tom, it can become the other way around.
The cast isn’t the concern here. Director/scriptwriter, producer are questionable.
Jalia: I’d agree, but I think there’s something to be said for it when a film can attract talented actors who have some options. Olsen’s not hurting for work – she just did a pair of blockbusters and before that she was getting lots of indie roles like this one – and she needs the money far less than Hiddleston does. Of course, her taste might not be perfect, but I generally take it as a sign of a viable project when people want to sign on.
@Jalia, I don’t think that if he’d have accepted BH, it would’ve been purely for the big paycheck since as you say, he’s already well-off. Hiddleston seems very eager to prove himself and his only mainstream star role so far has been Loki, so I guess it wouldn’t have been too surprising if he had accepted to play Ben-Hur to get bigger exposure. Judging by this year (Coriolanus+Crimson Peak+High Rise+I Saw The Light), I’d actually conclude that, looking back at his nearly empty 2013, he tries to avoid gaps and cram in as much work as possible before he has to go back to Marvel and film Thor 3.
Re: director/writer and producer: I agree. They’re the weakest links here. At least Ratner isn’t producer/director/writer lol.
@Joe Spider probably a bit of both -it onlt just became common knowledge that he was being considered and the publicity. It was great publicity for Tom as well. And yes my gut feeling says he is getting more offers but maybe not of the calibre he would like.
the quality of films being made for all actors are not the best, it’s been the worst box office figures for the summer months in years. it’s remakes, remakes, remakes. Any film of interest will be the lower paid indie stuff, and people want it too. I find it shocking that Chris Hemsworth has gone from a good film with Ron Howard to another national lampoon film and another snow white film, really?
Theatre and TV is where it’s booming right now for quality, film is seriously lacking.
@’p’enny, Chris has another Ron Howard film waiting for release and a Michael Mann film as well so I’m not worried about him. Snow White won’t be in the Snow White film so he won’t have to deal with the Kristen Stewart sideshow and I suspect the Vacation thing is just for a bit of fun – all sorts of people show up in those.
I picked up this from a November 2013 from an interview with Merchant Ivory’s producer Paul Bradley.It seems even back then Tom was being considered. I wonder what is/has taken them so long to get the project off the ground.
“Bradley said director James Ivory had been casting in London, and while no roles had been confirmed, the company’s reputation meant it was looking at an attractive line-up for the tale of tyranny and treachery.Luckily at the moment we have a fantastic new glut of young talented British actors, who are not only hugely skilled and popular but very bankable,” he said.People like Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston and many more.”Cumberbatch found fame as Sherlock Holmes and in Star Trek: Into Darkness, while Hiddleston’s role as Loki in the Thor movies has made him an internet darling.
Greeted with a response from this reporter that those particular actors were known as intelligent but also “thinking women’s crumpet”, Bradley responded with enthusiasm.
“That is music to my ears, so we’re on the right track!”
Whoever is cast will join a stellar company of Britain’s finest as Merchant Ivory regulars, including Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham-Carter, Ralph Fiennes, Judi Dench, Daniel Day-Lewis, Nick Nolte and Greta Scacchi.
@icerose, James Ivory said in that Italian article he had to wait for Tom to finish four projects, Corolanus, and three films on the row. I just think Tom’s diary was full from the get-go, in the sense that he new what he was doing. Ivory made it sound like he was waiting for Tom to be free, before pushing through. Plus, timing may also have played apart, Shakespeare is so in! four plays packing them in West End, Fassy in MacBeth and Benedict etc. People are hungry for it.
Well, this year was a big birthday (450) and we’re approaching the 400th anniversary of his death. He’s been big here too. I’ve seen Midsummer’s Night Dream, The Tempest, and Twelfth Night in the past five months and will see King Lear next month and I haven’t gone to all that has been available locally.
I want to see hiddles in Richard ii. He has a likeness to Richard in the fact that they both have golden curls. Hiddles also wouldn’t over act the part either.
On the other hand Edward iv would also be a good role as he was also tall and blonde. Hiddles would be on a horse and would be putting his sword training to good use with Edward.
I love Wikipedia
But Edward IV probably weighted about twice as much as Hiddles!
When Edward iv was young he was suppose to be athletic, tall and blonde. He suffered the same fate as his grandson Henry Viii and became obese at the end of his life.
Just like his grandson he was bright as well and gave money to the printing press or something like that. Actually both grandfather and grandson were quite similar. I don’t want hiddles to play Henry Viii though he’s been played to death. I would quite like to see a film about a lesser known king that was interesting. Richard iii has overshadowed Edward Iv
Edward IV wasn’t blonde though:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_IV
Ellen -yes to blonde curls
@ ice rose
“With Richard 11 it was all about not upsetting the current queen nit sure about Richard 111.”
Sorry I’m a bit late on this, but with RIII is was definitely don’t rock the boat, so it was in every writer’s interest to make him look as bad as possible.- Henry VII’s claim the to throne was tenuous in the absolute extreme, it was only through marrying Elizabeth of York that he could hope to make it stick and therefore the whole Tudor dynasty. Which it was why it was imperative for him to marry Elizabeth they heir after the death of the two princes. Elizabeth probably had no choice.
Interestingly enough the first writer to really denigrate RIII was the sainted Thomas Moore – he of Man for All Seasons fame. Not so saintly after all.
No definite evidence that RIII killed HVI and if so it would have been at the orders of Edward IV.
If anyone is interested I can recommend:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Richard-III-Paul-Murray-Kendall/dp/0393007855/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410620872&sr=8-1&keywords=paul+murray+kendall
End of another history lesson.
*puts down her pen and flexes fingers*
Yeah, sorry about that!
I’ve just watched the BBC documentary, by Arena, on Hank Williams – it’s on You tube. And, it’s left me moved and very interested now in this film. Since i didn’t know much about Hank at all except hearing is his grandsonny mouthing off, this documentary was good to watch and get to know who Hank is. It ‘s a brill. I well recommend it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9FIKetpCO4&index=144&list=WL
I think there is going to be a lot of Hiddles’ tears in this film, and guitar bashing over heads, and a lot of eye-flirting. The descriptions of Hank’s effect on women is very ironic, considering he is not a traditional looker, I can really see why they picked Tom to play him. It’s going to be biggest angst ridden, drunken film since something with Elizabeth Taylor played in.
I am really looking forward to it, now and to be honest i was a bit bleh.
If I got any doubts at all, it would be Hiddles ability to tap into the poverty experienced by the Williams family, that real emotional pain, I don’t know what he will call on from his life to channel this, because as actors go he couldn’t be further away in lifestyles.
And, worst of all, i can’t believe how thin Hank W is, he makes Tom look fat. He would make Adam from OLLA look fat.
I wonder if Rodney Crowell, Marc Abraham and Hiddles will go and talk to the people in this documentary, visit Montgomery and meet his old friends, and produce a documentary for the DVD, because Hiddles needs to get close to these people, to londoner it has to be alien world. He needs to get in there and get dirty and get laid in hay bales. 🙂 [i’m volunteering]
What makes you think he is not getting down and dirty in hay bales already. I for one think he is getting it all over the place but is very canny at picking people who will insure keeps a lid on it.
I know what you mean about background but lets face he has never experienced finding out his parents adopted , war and being banished. He just needs to do his research which will hopefully involve talking to those who new him and then find away into Hank’s psyche. One thing in one of the documentaries I saw was about how lonely Hank felt as a child and I am guessing that could just be something he can link into, Relationships falling to pieces ,being hit on by fans and I think Rodney and the band might give him an understanding about of what being on the road is like. And as Wheatley said Tom has a wild streak which should help. The thing about poverty is it is about wanting more and we know he is artistically ambitious with a need to feel respected so he can tap into a similar line of emotions there, dig deep and expand it. And with the anger he just has to release all the button upped emotion that comes with celebrity.
And we know he can flirt with a twinkle in his eye -can you imagine him singing “Hey Good looking”
@ Lilacflowers – very probably. In fact I wonder how he came out of playing rugby with his nose intact. 🙂
and what a lovely nose he has
He didn’t have much life experience as an Asgardian god who discovers he is a stolen war trophy from another race and then hurls himself off a bridge either but he did just fine.
Or being Hulk smashed.
Would playing rugby be useful in preparation for being Hulk smashed?
@lilacflowers and joe spider
‘slap’ :-p
you know full well that he fell from Asgard and he didn’t come from London.
no but he was playing a spoilt prince with a disappointed Dad leading to all sort of murderous sibling issues. I see the connection. 🙂
“and a lot of eye-flirting” oooooh I can cope with that. 🙂
@P’enny That was the show I was talking about earlier only it was series of short clips so nice to have it in one complete package. This really does wet my appetite.. He will have to dig very very deep but he can do it, Hank and Tom do seem to share a natural charm something Hank 3 seems to lack. Mind you I thought Hank 3 was okay in this but they will have edited out anything they did not want or like. He just lacks a lightness and charismatic attraction that his granddad despite his hard life had . It is something you cannot manufacture or even act and it shines through when Tom is acting and Hank is singing
just watched the complete documentary and the first thing that hits you is his height and the how much his very large forehead and the way his hair recedes at the side looks like Hank. Tom is going to have to get those knees moving when he sings. I di wonder how much knee bending was to help with back pain because if standing for long periods is painful on piece of advice is to keep your legs moving because it flexes the spine a bit. He also had back fusion which can be dodgy in terms of results especially in times gone by.
They still need to cast his mother and second wife although they would not be huge parts.
@icerose, I winced when they described the operation he went through to fuse his spine. the morphine, the strange cocktail of drugs and the endless booze to ease the pain. He had no chance – like his second wife said in the documentary ‘there are worse things than death.’
Physically, like you said the height really hits you, along with his thinness. He’s not graceful mover, because of his back we are used to seeing Tom glide like a model on film, he really is going to have master a bad stance.
I want Kathy Bates as his mother.
and for his second wife, someone very Elizabeth Taylor like. I struggle to think of American actresses when british ones are doing so well.
A lot of those celebrities never stood a chance back then because the perils of drink/medication did not really come to light until much later and there was very little drug control back then. Chronic back pain can wear you down emotionally as well and kick in the travel and it doubles the pain. Willie got it right with his self medicating marijuana.
He had an incredibly sad life despite his fame and success. There area a lot of challenges there for Tom. I was watching an interview with Sheridan Smith who is playing Cilla Black and she said that attempting to mimic never works and you have to find a midway point between copying and the underlying emotion
Yes to Kathy Bates she would rock it.
Judging that the photo alone her fiance looks hot. Oh my.
She seems to be getting lots of roles I must say…….I’ve never seen any movies with her so I can’t comment on her acting skills.
I think Tommy looks cute in that photo. I just wanna smooch his face.
And from ISTL casting:
https://twitter.com/WendyStache/status/511266672398053376
“The long line at the casting office for #ISawTheLight. The girl behind the ‘stache is officially an extra!”
oh dear, why do i get the feeling that the fan-queues for signings are going to get as big Crimson Peak? Everyone one of those extra’s wants to kiss Hiddle’s cowboy boots. 🙂
I can’t wait for the film goss, i enjoyed watching the High Rise fan-posse, they were small but funny.
“The girl behind the ‘stache is officially an extra!”. So the crazies got in. Oh dear.