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Viggo Mortensen Reteaming with Cronenberg in Talking Cure

by Ethan Anderton
March 9, 2010

Remember last month when we heard the recent Academy Award winning Christoph Waltz was replacing Sean Penn in Francis Lawrence's adaptation of Water for Elephants? Well, his taking on that role meant that he had to give one up, and Deadline reports that it was his forthcoming turn as the famous psychiatrist Sigmund Freud in David Cronenberg's The Talking Cure that has been swapped out for another actor. Waltz was swiftly replaced with the comparable talent of Viggo Mortensen in the story, based on a play by Christopher Hampton, about the conflict between Freud and his pupil Jung, played by Michael Fassbender.

Though Fassbender's involvement in the adaptation, as well as Keira Knightly's, has been locked for awhile, apparently Waltz's departure left it in jeopardy of being shelved. But with Mortensen's involvement, there's a level of comfort since he and Cronenberg came together twice for fantastic collaborations on A History of Violence and Eastern Promises. The Playlist also learned that Vincent Cassell (Eastern Promises, Ocean's 12) has joined the cast, but his role has yet to be revealed. Though I'm fine with Mortensen taking on the role, it would've been nice to see Waltz play something other than such a dastardly character again, since that's exactly what he's doing in Water for Elephants. We'll just have to see how both of these turn out.

Filed under Casting, Movie News, Opinions

From around the web:

talli

pretty weird considering him and fassbender look so much alike....i think it will spawn comparisons of the two actors, and itll be unfavorable for fassbender since viggo was around before him
Xerxex

Mortensen + Fassbender + Knightly + Cornenberg= success.
Dreckent

Cronenberg... you just made this Psychology student really, really happy ...
Sharlto

Oh yeah Mortenson is awesome, one of my favorites
Duude

Is it just me or does Cronenberg really look like a crazy scientist stereotype (like that one in Back to the Future)?
Marius665

This is great news! A History of Violence and Eastern Promises are two of my favorite movies. To anyone who hasn't seen these two films you need to. Film making and writting at it's best. These guys make a great team together. Hope they keep making films!
Craig

Waltz will be fantastic in the Water for Elephants movie. Now they just really, really need to recast the other two lead roles. As for The Talking Cure... I'll see anything if Viggo is in it.
Enid

You can't go wrong with Viggo and Michael. Both can handle pitch-perfect intensity. And no one does smoldering like Viggo....although, this role does not portray him that way, obviously. Definitely looking forward to this one.