LATEST NEWS

Casting Tidbits: Val Kilmer, John Malkovich, Rodrigo Santoro & More

by Ethan Anderton
July 6, 2011

Roz, my tender, oozing blossom, you're looking fabulous today. Is that a new haircut? Tell me it's a new haircut. It's got to be a new haircut. New Casting Tidbits? You had a lift? You had a tuck? You had something? First up, Variety reports Val Kilmer, Ving Rhames Luke Goss and Rebecca De Costa will lead a peculiar indie thriller called Seven Below. Kevin Carraway is directing the film from a script he also wrote with Lawrence Smith which tells the story of a group of strangers trapped in a time warp house where a terrible event transpired exactly 100 years prior. Time warps and Val Kilmer? Count me intrigued.

Second, Variety reports John Malkovich has been set to star in Siberian Educiation, an adaptation of Nicolai Lilin's autobiographical book of the same name. Gabrielle Salvatores is directing the film which follow's Lilin's life growing up as a member of the Mafia-like Urka community in the small republic of Transnistria, between Moldova and Ukraine. Malkovich will play the role of Grandfather Kuzja, who teaches his grandson Kolyma (played by Lithuanian actor Arnas Fedaravicius) the morals of "honest criminals."

Also, THR has another addition to the ensemble pregnancy-based romantic comedy What to Expect When You're Expecting with Rodrigo Santoro taking a role in the film. Though you may better know him for his turn as Xerxes in 300, the actor already has experience in the ensemble romantic comedy arena after having a role in Love Actually. While he played Laura Linney's crush in that film, this time he'll play Jennifer Lopez's husband who works in the music business and isn’t quite ready to have a child but goes along with his wife’s plan to adopt. Kirk Jones (Everybody's Fine) is directing the film with Cameron Diaz, Anna Kendrick, Brooklyn Decker and Chris Rock also starring.

Finally, THR reports "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and Date Night star J.B. Smoove has taken a role in The Dictator, the next comedy from Sacha Baron Cohen and Larry Charles. The comedian will be taking the role of "Usher" in the film, and I'm betting it's not a version of the hip-hop/R&B singer but rather a real usher of some sort. Details are being kept under tight wraps, and all we know is the film is about the titular ruler who risked his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed. The film has Cohen playing the dictator as well as a goat herder who is involved in the story somehow.

That's all for this edition of Casting Tidbits. Be sure to stay tuned for even more casting news on the way.

Filed under Casting Tidbits, Movie News

From around the web: