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Rumor: Jackie Earle Haley as Sinestro in Green Lantern?

by Alex Billington
October 16, 2009
Source: AICN

He's played Rorschach and Freddy Krueger, now he'll play Sinestro in Green Lantern?! Unless you're a Green Lantern fan, you probably don't know who Sinestro is, but we'll explain all that. AICN is reporting a rumor (take this with a grain of salt) that actor Jackie Earle Haley has been cast as Sinestro, the lead villain, in the Green Lantern movie being directed by Martin Campbell and co-starring Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan. Not only that, but they say that Superman has a cameo in it as well (the character, not Brandon Routh). Though I'm not sure if I can believe all this yet. If it's true, then this is some seriously great casting.

AICN says their source is "someone working on the film," meaning it's legit, but I'm going to wait to hear it from Warner Brothers or Haley himself before calling it confirmed casting. So who is Sinestro? Sinestro is the former mentor of Hal Jordan and the arch-nemesis of the entire Green Lantern Corps (of which Ryan Reynolds is a part of). Sinestro was banished from the Corps for using the power of the Green Lantern to instill fear rather than combat it and was given a yellow ring and the power of the Yellow Lanterns, the enemy of the Green Lanterns, instead. Basically, Sinestro is the bad guy. And according to our early script review on this from last year, Sinestro has some "good screen" time making this casting news all the better.

I truly believe that Zack Snyder could not have cast anyone else better than Jackie Earle Haley to play Rorschach. And now I have a feeling that may be the case here for Green Lantern as well. It's all too early to tell, especially considering we don't know the tone or the style of the movie or anything like that, but I've got plenty of faith in Martin Campbell and Jackie Earle Haley. Let's hope this turns out to be true! Thoughts?

Update: The same day this rumor hit, Collider was able to talk with Jackie Earle Haley on the red carpet of the Scream Awards, and he confirmed that it's not true. "I kind of heard it down there for the first time," pointing down the red carpet. "That wasn't me confirming it, I heard about it, I guess the same way you did." Haley also denied doing any screen testing for the role, which is something Martin Campbell does a lot of when casting. They asked for one final confirmation and this is what Haley said: "You guys are out in front of it, and I don't know anything about it yet, so if something comes up, I'll let you know." There you have it.

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Related categories: Casting, Rumors

Farris

I like the idea but I thought John Hamm would have been the perfect choice for Sinestro.
nelson

i wont hold my breathe bradley cooper was all but confirmed for hal jordan remember lol
Toucmyinfection

but....isnt J.E.H. like...4 feet tall?? I dont remember Sinestro being short...
teyhtr

The height complaint is useless...Keaton wasn't exactly the tallest man either.
http://comicbooks.tumblr.com Ivan

THE Green Lantern? Hal's not Batman, or Alan Scott, who technically did have a "The" attached. Green Lantern, Green Lanterns, Green Lantern Corps. No "The". Oh, and Jackie Earle Haley is a great actor, and would make a fine, dead-serious and vile Sinestro!
Ajax

Hmmmmm I wouldn't really trust this rumor, but I did hear earlier that Superman does make a cameo in the film...
Spider

Great choice. Haley is a good, underrated and underused actor. Plus, he could sure use the gig too. I'd say let him play Siniestro! Height requirement is really no big deal as many facets of the comic book genre have and will always be altered to accommodate the silver screen interpretation!
SlashBeast

At least it's not another psycho role for Haley. I wouldn't mind him being cast. #5 - Ivan I believe they're referring to Hal Jordan's Green Lantern when they're titling it THE Green Lantern. There are many others, but he's the main focus.
tazz

heres my other choices of actors to be casted as Sinestro Hugo Weaving or Jason Isaacs but im glad that Jackie Earle Haley is rumored to be casted as Sinestro
dan_the_man

hold on aint Jackie Earle Haley too short to play Sinestro
Governor

Height doesn't matter. Camera tricks and all sorts of things can be used to make an actor appear taller.
Hattori Hanzo

To dan_the_man: John Rhys-Davies is 6'1 yet he played Gimli who is 4 feet high. I don't think Haley's height will be a problem.
Annie

That's so true Governor. Al Pacino, Tom Cruise, Dustin Hoffman and Michael J. Fox just to name a few, are short but who really notices on film? I guess you can say they that were real life Hobbits before Hobbits were cool:)
Blue & Orange NY

Yes please enough of the remarks about him being short yada yada yada.....there's plenty of actors that are short and are made to look tall....if they would have said that Sinestro was being played by Mini Me then we have problems....so until that happens relax, the only debate would be is can he pull it off... plus I have heard also heard about the Superman cameo as well
hearts4711

that would be cool, paint him purple, give him a straight black wig and he looks just like sinestro. not too keen on his freddy though...
M-Cat

He's way too small. The studio going the cheap route. Hugo Weaving would have been perfect.
dan_the_man

@Hattori Hanzo thats true i forgot all about that lol, even RDJ is short and he played Tony Stark who is actually taller than RDJ. i remember RDJ on set of Iron Man 2 he wore shoe lifts on set. @Blue & Orange NY im just saying aint Jackie Earle Haley too short thats all im not against him playing Sinestro. he most likely going to wear shoe lifts if he going to star as Sinestro. but anyway Jackie Earle Haley will be great as Sinestro cause his a good actor. it is sort of true Clark Kent makes a cameo but not as Superman/Clark Kent cause no one is been casted to play Superman cause Brandon Routh contract ended. the cameo is most likely going to be a scene where the Power Ring goes past the Daily Planet as the camera is focused on the desk with a name plate of Clark Kent.
Me.

I think they should have the guy that plays Clark Kent in Smallville. Its the perfect choice.
Blue Silver

Jackie Earle Haley will probably wear shoe lifts and filmed from a low angle! I think he's perfect for this........he's got great acting chops!
Dan W

Alex. When you say the Super Man character will be in it what exactly do you mean? He will be seen from far away? Digitized? Or is it still too fuzzy to really know yet?
Xerxex

make it a hard pg-13 and put Haley in.
zubzwank

When I read the story, my immediate thought was JEH was too short to play the (as I remember him) very tall, thin Sinestro. But you all, and Jackie's talent, have convinced me that he'll be great. A reminder that super heroes are not alone in the world--which has caused so much buzz in Re:"the" DC has been placing and removing the article "the" from heroes' titles for years. As Michelle Pfieffer asked " It's Batman...or is it the Batman? Your choice, of course!" Same goes for Flash...the Flash; Green Lantern...the Green Lantern. Can't remember if they did it with Green Arrow...or is it the Green Arrow?
Heat Mizer

Fuck yeah! I would love to see Jackie Earle Haley as Sinestro! I have complete faith in him as an actor to pull it off. I really hope this is true. The thought of Jackie beating up on Ryan Reynolds makes me smile. Don't get me wrong, I think Ryan is a great actor, I'm just tired of seeing him
Tra la la la la di da

So are they going with the stupid corps? I prefer the original Green Lantern idea, but keep the new uniform. Way cooler!
U2Rlovebirds

thats a good choice. Im so looking forward to this movie. Ryan will be amazing. and if this actor gets senestro, then wow!! cool cool
Colin

"of which Ryan Reynolds is a part of)." Department of Redundancy Department. "Sinestro was banished from the Corps for using the power of the Green Lantern to instill fear rather than combat it and was given a yellow ring and the power of the Yellow Lanterns, the enemy of the Green Lanterns, instead." Sinestro was not given the power of the Yellow Lanterns, nor were the Yellow Lanterns the enemies of the green. Sinestro CREATED the yellow ring (via the Weaponers of Qward) and then CREATED the Sinestro Corps.
Glass

Riiiiight... "JJ Abrams" (rolls eyes). #23 - Heat Mizer If you're tired of seeing him, stop watching his movies.
JJ Abrams

Height matters at it relates to proportions onscreen. Haley looks short and squat as Rorschach, because of his proportions (shorter arms and legs and wider torso) Next to Reynolds, he'll appear even more squat. They can work around it to a certain degree ... but there's no way to make Haley appear "long and lean" like Reynolds (or Sinestro ... as he's traditionally depicted in the comics.)
1-7

Haley himself has squashed this rumor, it's not happening.
richard the pest man

jackie the man he can act any part . your pest man.