Wednesday
Sep122012
Ewan joins the cast of "August: Osage County"
Wednesday, September 12, 2012 at 4:08PM 
Julia Roberts. Meryl Streep.
Margo Martindale. Abigail Breslin. Juliette Lewis. Cumberbatch. Chris Cooper. Dermot Mulroney. And Sam Shepard as Beverly Weston.
_____
insert squeal here to stifle the natural hyperbolic reaction.
Reader Comments (71)
I think I have loved every casting announcement for this film :)
OK, this cast is as close to perfection as possible. I'm especially excited for Margo Martindale who, I hope, will receive her long-overdue recognition at the Oscars. This could be a good opportunity for Ewan as well. I feel the case will swim in Oscar nods. :) I'm beyond excited.
Also, Misty Upham plays Johnna, the native American girl. :)
Now, it's only Ivy. Wonder who it will be.
OMG, my marvelous Margo Martindale. ALWAYS makes an impression. So brilliant in Nobody's Fool and Million Dollar Baby. But her wry turn in Marvin's room...she uses comedy to get straight to the drama, but sparing no laughs. Sublime actress.
Arms folded until the reviews come in.
Ewaaaann (said in Homer Simpson drooling voice)
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qL12k7T8B0Q/TQ2g7C-ycJI/AAAAAAAAAB0/zD2ezukzbmw/s1600/homer+drool+2.gif
I heard jacki weaver for ivy.
Trace Letts!! Fuck Yeah!! Killer Joe is still the best movie of the year. Until I see The Master of course
every time a cast is so big and so good the mnovie is always bad...
Joseph: I would tend to agree with you, with too huge exceptions: "The Towering Inferno" and "Murder On the Orient Express." The mold got broke.
@Joseph: I'm reminded of the incredible cast for 'Evening' in how GOOD this sounds, but we all remember how that turned out. But I trust the source material here more.
Also: anything by Altman ;)
Who's Misty? I'm not familiar with her...
@4rtful: I just had this awesome image of you sitting grumpily in the corner, glowering impatiently. It made me giggle :D teehee.
@beau: misty upham was in Frozen river with Melissa Leo
ugh... the cast of this movie is insane and too good to be true
With my arms unfolded... I think this a stellar cast and I do hope Jackie Weaver plays Ivy. This one shouldn't... almost can't, lose ... Unfortunately , I still have my doubts about Robert's' acting chops in this company!?
Isn't Jacki Weaver a little old for Ivy?????
jacki weaver is too old to play Ivy. Ivy is Barbara's (Julia Roberts) sister. I'm surprised they cast Juliette Lewis as Karen-- I thought of her as more of an Ivy
Awesome news, I just hope Julia Roberts drops out ( a boy can dream).
@Yibbet - IKR
I'm trying to contain my excitement. It's not working very well.
Marisa Tomei for Ivy!
i wish i could join y'all in the excitement. the play is magnificent and this cast is good (though i still think Streep is kinda wrong for Violet.) but the director just has no pizazz. he's a very journeyman director -- at least from his first picture "company man" and i can't see this working without a really potent director given that it's very much a stage play.
Hope you're wrong Nathaniel. Maybe George Clooney will hold the director's hand?
I'm excited about the cast, especially Margo Martindale. I thought the stage play was rather tedious and I'm hoping the film turns out better.
Am I the only one who's gonna cry foul about Ewan's casting? Yes, he's incredibly talented and super charismatic and terribly gorgeous but don't those last two qualities in particular make him seem awfully miscast for this role in particular? I think Wells has done a pretty solid job on most of the casting (especially Martindale, Cooper, Lewis, Shepard, and Mulroney). But at least give me someone I can believe is a Midwestern college professor. This part calls for a William H. Macy, not a Ewan McGregor.
On a side note, didn't Abigail Breslin's casting seem almost unusually inevitable?
If William Friedkin were the one directing this, I'd be much more excited. He's shown an affinity for bringing Letts' work to the screen.
This is such a great part for an older actress. And it's going to be completely wasted by using Meryl Streep.
Meryl will knock it out of the park!
Streep is not "kinda wrong" for the part.
Ewan is very, very, very miscast. The role calls for an older gentleman. He's waaaaay to young. He's supposed to be sleeping with one of his students, and we're (the audience) supposed to wonder how/why.
ANYWAY, I think it's hysterical that every name you mentioned in the post has a first and last except Benedict Cumberbatch.
Streep is "kinder wrong" for most parts - there I've said it! The same old set of tricks that people mistake for real acting, I think the only reason she has so many oscar nominations is because of the way the Academy system works, lazy voters just see her name in a film and it's nomination 252 for this really average actress. As for Roberts, has she done anything of significance since 'Pretty Woman'? - don't mention that they gave her an oscar for pushing her tits out! Ewan is going to be out of his depth unless he can find a way to get his cock out! Yes it's got 'Best Picture' written all over it!
@Mike B. - He's like a male movie Madonna. He don't need no first name.
@Joe - ...eeks. I don't suppose you'll be there opening night then? ;)
I'm still surprised the play is that popular since I "only" liked it a lot when I read it but now I don't even remember what I liked about it.
And shouldn't Ewan play Chris Cooper's son instead? The casting seems weird.
I'm still excited though to see all these actors being really unhappy and angry together.
Jacki Weaver is WAY too old to play Ivy. If I remember correctly from the play, Ivy is the middle daughter and Barbara (Julia Roberts) is the oldest. Jacki is like in her mid-sixties.
I guess I should see a production of the stage play soon so that I can join in in the excitement brought about by these casting announcements. Until then, it will seem like someone just threw some names against a wall and waited to see which ones would stick.
@Joe U.K.
My Rage Against The Streep is legendary in these parts. If you're on Twitter we can have a lovely exchange.
Troy -- that is exactly what's happened ;)
Literally every time I see a new casting announcement for A:OC, I just keep repeating "DON'T SCREW THIS UP DON'T SCREW THIS UP DON'T SCREW THIS UP" to myself over and over. It's the best American play in a REALLY long time and I just keep worrying that the film will fall to pieces. I'll probably even watch it through splayed fingers when it finally opens.
They are assembling QUITE the cast though, even if some of them are, shall we say, INTERESTING choices.
PLEASE, Hollywood. I'm BEGGING you.
DON'T SCREW THIS UP.
I think that, in terms of matching actor to role, Ewan is the first and only cause for concern here. I could see each and every one of the other actors tackling his or her particular role with gusto. What I appreciate about the casting here is that there really could be familial traits, in personality and in appearance, amongst those cast here. Even Abigail Breslin shares more physically in common with Streep and Roberts than she did with Sarah Jessica Parker or Cameron Diaz, who have previously played her stage moms (Toni Collette, however, who played her mom also shares the resemblance and would be AMAZING as Ivy and a totally worthy choice if Amy Adams has not signed on, as suspected).
Joe U. K. Besides your opinion, what are your acting qualifications?
Steve, you had me at Toni Collette! Perfect choice!
@ rick
He doesn't need any. He can sense someone who receives a free pass based on reputation alone. The mantra of greatest living actress, the most destructive meme ever held against every other living or dead who ever did it.
I adore the Streep, but that being said, there are so many actresses who could have brought their own unique beauty to the role.
Meryl is a great actress, yes. But she's not the only one.
Can you imagine Maggie Smith, Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Catherine Deneuve, Liv Ullmann, Julie Christie, Judy Davis, Sissy Spacek, or Judi Dench in the role? Seriously! Just picture them in your mind. Some yes, some no. But they would have all been fascinating choices.
Beau, I'm against the Streep mantra, meme, myth making, machine. It's not as though I don't find things to rally behind in her work, but I really want to fist fight some of her most vocal true-believers.
Because I sense this conversation going *there*, I shall change directions for a bit. I will go on record as someone who is actually excited to see what Julia Roberts might do in her role. I don't mind confessing that I like her as an actress.
Beau, I miss Julie Christie so much! I am still and forever heartbroken that she didn't win her deserved Oscar for Away From Her. One of the all-time great performances on film. She is pure magic.
@4rtful
We know how you feel about The Streep. Please tape it shut. I thought this thread was about the casting of Ewan McGregor. IMHO, the casting choices have been excellent because they haven't been the usual suspects. There's great variety and surprising choices in the casting of this film. And if you do want to go 'there', yes, Streep still rocks it.
You know what's wrong with this production? It sounds uneventful on paper. None the casting is inspired. If the film turns out to be a critical and commercial disappointment I won't say I told you so because I don't care.
@Troy: Right?!?! I'm personally thrilled about the opportunity for her here. I know it's not a widely held opinion, but I've always felt her best work was in 'Closer'. She went for it, Nichols guiding her, and tried something totally different.
@brookesboy: I adore the Christie. She was so fucking good in 'Away From Her'. Sarah Polley is an exquisite director and actress, and as a writer she's incredibly strong. But she has a tendency to write dialogue that can come off as stilted or inorganic; Christie took these words and made them into poetry. I don't begrudge Cotillard's win, her being one of the best actresses to have appeared in the last ten years, but there is something truly beautiful about what Christie did in that film.
I always think of what Polley said to her cinematographer and smile; "I want you to light her like she's the most beautiful thing on the planet." And he did. And she was. :)
@4rtful: You don't think Martindale is inspired casting? That's personally the one that I'm most excited about! I've always wanted to see that woman get a role like this. I think of her in 'Paris Je T'aime' and smile. :) Mulroney is different as well! I'm sure him and Roberts are so excited to be working together again.
Margo Martindale's a fine actress. I'm a bit sour this won't be Bates' second Oscar.
Oh! :) Don't worry about her, love. She's a talented woman; something even better's probably waiting in the wings. Just when you think you won't see them as much or ever again, there they are.
Beau you're a warm blanket.
Beau: We are sympatico about her performance in "Closer" as well! I found it to be some of her most textured work.