Leo Bird Johnson & Other Casting News
Monday, July 13, 2015 at 12:10PM 
Aaron Tveit considering Grease: Live...Manuel here helping you catch up with plenty of recent casting news!
Broadway hunk Aaron Tveit (Enjolras in Les Misérables, 2012) is our new Danny Zuko in that live musical version of "Grease" which will also star Julianne Hough as Sandy (sigh) and Vanessa Hudgens as Rizzo (double sigh). TFE Best Supporting Actor dream Emmy nominee Teddy Sears is joining CW's The Flash as the original Flash Jay Garrick. And Jonathan Rhys-Meyers will front a The Clash biopic called London Town.
But if you made it this far it is because you’re wondering about that amazing retooling of Melissa Leo’s “Consider” Ad we all love so much.
Yes, while we’ve been suffering through close to five years of post-Oscar Leo ubiquity. I’m glad she’s been getting steady work, but I can’t be the only one who wishes she’d say no sometimes to every woman-in-power-suit role that comes her way. I guess they can’t all be Prisoners-style performances, can they? Well, as HBO continues to ready Jay Roach’s adaptation of All the Way (ie. the play that won Bryan Cranston a Tony), they’ve cast Melissa Leo as Lady Bird Johnson and I can’t believe we haven’t discussed that at TFE. I mean, I don’t subscribe to the “actor needs to be a spitting image” of the real-life person they’re portraying but this is just much too perfect, no? To make the casting news even sweeter, they've cast Anthony Mackie as Martin Luther King Jr. which just makes me happy as it means we're not losing all of our Hurt Locker boys to solely Marvel-produced films.
"Consider..." Are you excited about the LEOgend’s chance at a second* Emmy?
She previously won for her guest work on Louie
Reader Comments (16)
I can't say I'm a huge fan of hers but it's more the actress herself then her acting. She can be very good and there is a resemblance so as long as she dials it down and doesn't get all twitchy as she can at times she might be do very well. Hopefully she'll match the standard set by Patti LuPone in LBJ: The Early Years back in the 80's.
Forget Ladybird--I can't wait for Melissa Leo's actual real-life transformation into Shelley Winters.
I am happy Leo keeps getting cast. People who find financial success through persistent hard work make me happy.
I would rather have Stockard Channing reprise the role than sit through Vanessa Hudgens.
I didn't realise she was so polarizing.
Love the LEOgend. She deserved that Oscar so much! I love fearless showboating.
Have you seen Francine? What an incredible actress.
YES! If we had to lose her Mamie Eisenhower (oh, LEE DANIELS' THE BUTLER, what could have been...), I'm glad we at least get Lady Bird.
And I'm glad she never says no, as she always seems to know just how to adjust -- quiet in PRISONERS, certain in FLIGHT, balls-out looney tunes in OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (my favorite, obvs). Every Leo is a Leo worth watching.
Living for the Leogend, always.
Everything that AW-annointed LEOgend does is flawless.
I would watch anything starring Melissa Leo.
P.S. I literally thought you had photoshopped Melissa Leo's face onto ladybird's photo. UNCANNY.
Nat, RIGHT?! So uncanny! Cannot wait for those reviews that'll read "Melissa Leo IS Lady Bird Johnson."
I will say, I love living in a world where LEOgend (the nickname, the actress, the meme) is a thing.
Ugh it's double sigh for Julianne Hough. So boring.
I think Hudgens really does have talent after Gigi.
LEOgend always and forever.
Aaron Tveit would need to come to my house and make out with me to get me to watch anything with Julianne Hough in it.
Julianne Hough as Sandy for Grease? Oh boy...
Can't wait for Consider: The Sequel when she rolls out her Emmy campaign.
Santy C -- i will be THRILLED. but i wonder if she's self aware enough to realize what a camptastic treat that would be for fans?