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Katie Holmes is playing Jackie Kennedy again: does she look authentic?

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Back in 2010-11, Katie Holmes signed on to play Jackie Kennedy in The Kennedys, an eight-part cable miniseries. The miniseries was well-liked and award-winning, although Katie was not singled out for any awards or nominations for her Jackie portrayal. But someone thought it would be a good idea to get the gang back together for a sequel miniseries, The Kennedys: After Camelot. These are photos of Katie-as-Jackie filming in Toronto over the past few days. What do you think of her Jackie look? They got the hair right. I don’t know if this is a wig or if Katie’s hair can really do that, but the hair is very authentic-looking. The clothes sort of make me sad though. Post-JFK, Jackie’s style was simplified for the most part, but she always looked pulled together. I don’t think Katie is even wearing a bra in these photos. Hm. So, I looked up this new series, and there’s some other notable casting choices: Matthew Perry is playing Ted Kennedy, probably Ted circa Chappaquiddick. Alexander Siddig is playing Aristotle Onassis!! So now I’m jealous because Katie Holmes gets to have love scenes with Alexander Siddig. And let’s face it, Aristotle Onassis was not that attractive. Photos courtesy of Pacific Coast News.

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J.K. Rowling on reaction to new Hermione: ‘I thought that idiots were going to idiot’

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Character portraits for the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child were released over the weekend and they are all lovely; take a look on Pottermore. As we reported in December of last year, Olivier-Award winning actor, Noma Dumezweni, was cast as Hermione in this production. After the announcement, people with nothing better to do complained to the Twitterverse about her casting. The issue was not her credentials but the fact that she is not white and that somehow flies in the face of the characterization of Hermione. At the time, J.K. Rowling gave the following statement in support of the casting choice: Canon: brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. White skin was never specified. Rowling loves black Hermione ? https://t.co/5fKX4InjTH — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 21, 2015 JK wrote the story upon which Jack Thorne’s play is based. HPatCC takes place 19 years after the gang has graduated Hogwarts. Harry is married with three children and the youngest, Albus, is reluctant to carry on the family legacy. The story is a continuation from the books, not the movies so it really doesn’t matter who played the part in the movie, even if they did a wonderful job in that role. Now that the dust up on social media has died down, JK expressed her annoyance about the controversy and did so in classic JK fashion. JK Rowling has revealed her frustration at online reaction by “a bunch of racists” to news that the role of Hermione will be played by a black actress in the eagerly awaited new play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The production, which has broken records by selling 175,000 tickets in 24 hours, is tipped to be the theatrical event of the year. But the Harry Potter creator criticised those who have suggested that Hogwarts’ studious heroine could not be played by the Olivier-award-winning actress Noma Dumezweni. “With my experience of social media, I thought that idiots were going to idiot,” she said in an interview with the Observer. “But what can you say? That’s the way the world is. Noma was chosen because she was the best actress for the job.” While the vast majority of people responded positively to the casting decision, Rowling said: “I had a bunch of racists telling me that because Hermione ‘turned white’ – that is, lost colour from her face after a shock – that she must be a white woman, which I have a great deal of difficulty with. But I decided not to get too agitated about it and simply state quite firmly that Hermione can be a black woman with my absolute blessing and enthusiasm.” Dumezweni was cast by the play’s director, John Tiffany – known for the productions Black Watch and the musical Once – who has collaborated with Rowling and the playwright Jack Thorne, writer of This Is England and The Last Panthers. Tiffany said he was surprised by the opinions expressed online, but had stopped reading the comments. “I am not as Twitter-familiar as Jo and Jack, so I hadn’t encountered its dark side, which is just awful. But what shocked me was the way people couldn’t visualise a non-white person as the hero of a story. It’s therefore brilliant that this has happened.” [From The Guardian] I always cast books in my head and producers never go with my picks when they are made into movies. Shockingly, I am able to get over it and see the film without bias. I remain at a loss over the criticism of Noma; I would be thrilled to see someone of her caliber perform. Elphaba in Wicked needed to be green, it was a huge point in the story but Hermione’s skin color has no affect on her. I think I’ll save my outrage for the fact that I will never get tickets to this show and not the fact that Hermione is not alabaster or Ron not-ginger enough. Embed from Getty Images Photo credit: WENN and Fame/Flynet Photos and Getty Images

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Angelina Jolie almost played the lead role in the iconic ’90s movie ‘The Craft’

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This ^^ is a photo of Angelina Jolie in 1996’s Foxfire, the story about five teenage misfits who gang together to take down the man who has harassed them. Foxfire was the film where Angelina met and fell in love with Jenny Shimizu, incidentally. It was also the film Angelina did instead of The Craft!! For ‘90s girls like me, The Craft is a pretty big deal. Personally speaking, Clueless was always a bigger deal for ME, but I did enjoy The Craft. The Craft is also a story of a gang of misfit girls banding together… but they banded together for witchcraft! The iconic ‘90s film starred Robin Tunney (in the lead role), Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell and Rachel True. The film turns 20 years old this year, and to celebrate, HuffPo did interviews with original cast members, producers and the director, Andrew Fleming. Fleming said that Angelina was very close to being cast in the lead role, which went to Robin Tunney. That’s what’s shocking to me, that Jolie read for Sarah and not Nancy (played by Fairuza Balk). You may not be able to picture The Craft with a different group of teen witches, but that was almost the case when putting the coven together. During an interview with The Huffington Post to celebrate the cult classic’s 20th anniversary, casting director Pam Dixon and director Andrew Fleming revealed that the famous 1996 flick almost starred some now-huge A-listers, including Angelina Jolie, Alicia Silverstone and Scarlett Johansson. And they all went for the same part—Sarah, the lead role. “We did these tests and we tested a lot of girls, some of whom have become really well-known,” Dixon shared. “We actually had a hold on somebody that we had to let go because she got offered another film, and we didn’t know if the movie was really happening. That girl was Angelina Jolie. She did Foxfire instead.” Oh, whaaaaat? She continued, “Another person who came in was Scarlett Johansson, who was just 12 at the time. The other girl was Alicia Silverstone. This would have been ‘95. She had just shot Clueless, but it had not come out. Alicia also got something between the time that we read them and the time we were really going to make the movie, so we couldn’t pick her up either and she went to do something else. They were all really for Sarah.” The lead role obviously ended up going to Robin Tunney, who actually auditioned for a smaller part in the film. “Robin was originally cast in the part that Neve Campbell played, but we wanted her for the lead. We had to talk her into playing the lead, which was weird. But she did it. She wanted to play Bonnie, and we said, ‘No, we want you to be Sarah.’ It was like a reverse-Hollywood story where she wanted the smaller part.” [From E! News] I could see how Alicia Silverstone would be in contention for the middle-of-the-road Sarah role, and I could also see how Angelina would have been outright offered the lead or any role in the film. But Angelina would have been better as Nancy. Perhaps they already had Fairuza at the time and they just wanted Sarah to be darker, thus Angelina. Because remember how Angelina was back then? She WAS The Craft. She was dark and witchy and goth and amazing. What could have been! Embed from Getty Images Photos courtesy of WENN, ‘The Craft’ and ‘Foxfire.’

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Alden Enrenreich, 26, cast as the ‘young Han Solo’: great choice or meh?

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Last year, we learned that a huge slate of Star Wars-themed sequels, prequels and spin-offs were in the pipeline at Disney. One of the biggest projects was a combo prequel/spinoff, featuring the story of a pre-New Hope Han Solo. This is not going to be a straight up origin story with Han Solo’s childhood! The focus was always going to be on Han Solo as a 20-something dude, what he was up to before he met Luke Skywalker. The casting call went far and wide, and eventually Disney had the list culled to a who’s who of “really?” The shortlist featured names like Miles Teller, Scott Eastwood, Alden Ehrenreich, Logan Lerman, Emory Cohen and Ansel Elgort. The list was culled even further back in March, and now industry sources say that Disney has finally found their Young Solo: 26-year-old Alden Ehrenreich. After thousands of actors were considered to portray a younger Han Solo for a “Star Wars” spinoff, Alden Ehrenreich has landed the coveted role. Hollywood sources tell us Ehrenreich has signed on to play the iconic role, made famous by Harrison Ford, in the new movie, slated for 2018, which will focus on Solo before he joined the Rebel Alliance. One insider told us of Ehrenreich, 26, who most recently appeared in “Hail, Caesar!”: “Alden really impressed Disney and Lucasfilm execs with his screen tests. The deal is basically done.” Relatively little-known Ehrenreich — who’s also the lead in Warren Beatty’s upcoming, untitled Howard Hughes project with Fox — beat out candidates including “Divergent” stars Miles Teller and Ansel Elgort, Scott Eastwood, “Kingsman” and “Eddie the Eagle” star Taron Egerton, and “Sing Street” star Jack Reynor. The casting of the Han Solo character has been so shrouded in secrecy it was named “Project Red Cup,” in reference to the ubiquitous red plastic Solo cups. The film won’t start shooting until January, but reports are that the early casting is because the new Solo will have a cameo in “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” which is now shooting. That film is said to be set between “Episode III” and “Episode IV.” Reps for Ehrenreich didn’t get back to us. [From Page Six] I thought Rogue One was already in the can, but maybe not if they’re giving themselves time to film a quickie cameo with the new Solo. As for this choice… I don’t hate it. Alden is probably one of the best choices from the shortlist they had. He’s attractive (very much so), boyish, but with a slight bad-boy vibe that is desperately needed for Han Solo. I wanted to hear his voice, so I looked up some interviews and… this kid is CUTE. He has a really sexy smile. Nice voice too. Photos courtesy of WENN.

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THR: Japanese fans aren’t upset with Scarlett Johansson’s ‘Ghost’ casting

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Earlier this week, we discussed the whitewashing drama that surrounds the Hollywood adaptation of the popular manga property Ghost in the Shell – go here to review Monday’s post. Interestingly enough, it seems that Americans and Europeans are the ones most upset about Scarlett Johansson’s casting as a character who was originally a Japanese woman. While Americans – specifically Asian-Americans – think this is just another terrible case of Hollywood whitewashing, it seems like ScarJo’s casting has been met with a shrug in Japan. The Hollywood Reporter did an interesting story about the reaction of Japanese fans to both Scarlett’s casting and the American whitewashing criticism. The casting of Scarlett Johansson as Major Motoko Kusanagi in the Paramount/DreamWorks adaptation of Japanese anime hit Ghost in the Shell has drawn accusations of “whitewashing” and sparked fierce debate on social media across the Western world. But in the home of the manga and anime cult classic, the reaction to the media firestorm was mostly surprise as many Japanese had already assumed that the lead role in a Hollywood version of the story would go to a white actress. The original manga, written by Masamune Shirow, was published in 1989 by Kodansha, which licensed it for Mamoru Oshii’s seminal 1995 anime feature, a number of Japanese spin-off films and anime series, and most recently for the Hollywood live-action version. “Looking at her career so far, I think Scarlett Johansson is well cast,” Sam Yoshiba, director of the international business division at Kodansha’s Tokyo headquarters, tells The Hollywood Reporter. “She has the cyberpunk feel. And we never imagined it would be a Japanese actress in the first place…. This is a chance for a Japanese property to be seen around the world.” Yoshiba recently returned from a visit to the New Zealand set of the movie, where he says he was impressed by the respect being shown for the source material. Many ordinary Japanese manga fans are also nonplussed at the outrage over the casting. “If you want a Japanese cast, then a Japanese company should make the film in Japan,” said long-time manga fan Tetsuya Kataoka. Interestingly, the casting of an Asian-looking actress may have avoided the “whitewashing” accusations and likely placated some fans in Europe and America, but provoked a worse reaction in Japan. “It’s a shame they didn’t choose a Japanese person to tell such an interesting story. But at least they didn’t cast a Chinese actress, like they did in Memoirs of a Geisha,” said Ai Ries Collazo, another manga fan. “[Zhang Ziyi] actually did an amazing job, but it was like: really? Again, can’t they find a Japanese actress? Though casting an Asian actress would probably have gone down better in America.” Japanese manga and anime fans pointed out that similar “race-bending” casting takes place in reverse for domestic productions. Two live-action movies based on the Attack on Titan manga, also originally published by Kodansha, were released last year. The characters in the manga by Hajime Isayama were Western, but the cast for the movies was all Japanese. [From The Hollywood Reporter] I guess it probably bodes well that Japanese manga fans don’t care that a white woman was cast, and I also see their point about “well, at least they didn’t cast some vaguely Asian actress in lieu of getting a Japanese actress.” I agree that it would have been worse if they hired a Chinese-American or Korean-American actress, like all Asian ethnicities are interchangeable. But still…despite what these manga fans and Japanese fans say, I still think this is pretty egregious whitewashing. Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet, Dreamworks.

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Chiwetel Ejiofor: ‘It’s probably harder to be gay’ than black in Hollywood

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Chiwetel Ejiofor is during the promotional rounds for Triple 9, the cops-and-robbers movie also starring Kate Winslet, Anthony Mackie, Casey Affleck, Aaron Paul, Woody Harrelson and more. I remember that there were a lot of casting rumors going back and forth about this film, and I’m pleased that Chiwetel decided to do it. I’ve wanted good things for his career post-12 Years a Slave, but I think Chiwetel is more focused on diversifying his CV, doing a shoot ‘em action film here, a Marvel film there, a quiet African drama over there, and more. There’s no doubt in my mind that Chiwetel would be a much bigger “star” if he was white. But… I do have my doubts about whether Chiwetel is really interested in being a celebrity or a star. I think he just wants to work, and if he says that he’s living his dream, then I believe him. Anyway, as Chiwetel was promoting Triple 9, he was asked about Hollywood diversity and all of the hot topics of the day. And Chiwetel said something surprising – he thinks it’s harder to be gay in Hollywood than black in Hollywood. The industry has been accused of a lack of diversity following the 2016 Academy Awards nominations, where no African-American actor or director was nominated for a top honour for the second year in a row, but the 12 Years a Slave star believes it’s harder for someone to succeed if they’re homosexual than if they’re black. “I hope this changes (but) I think it’s probably harder to be gay,” he told British newspaper The Times. “I think sexuality is still marginalised in a way that is pretty open. I think it’s tough. I think for one’s own piece of mind, for one’s own sense of self and psychological health, I feel like that’s the horrible thing about ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ and all that f**ked-up s**t, because it produces a sense of shame, and therefore this sense of being ‘less than’, you know? And I hate that. I hate that for anybody.” But Chiwetel argues that at the same time, a person’s sexuality isn’t anyone else’s business, and if the individual wants to, they should be able to declare their preference without fear of it affecting their opportunities in life in any way. When it comes to race, the 38-year-old’s Nigerian heritage has never held him back from his dream of being an actor, having received a Best Actor Academy Award nomination for his role in 12 Years a Slave in 2013, and winning a Laurence Olivier Award for his theatre work in the 2008 production of Othello. “If I hadn’t had the opportunities and the fortune that I have had, of course I would have a very different perspective to that, but I can’t be completely intellectually dishonest about what has happened in my life … It’s a tiny bit more nuanced for me to talk about,” he explained. [From Contact Music] Ian McKellen was talking about this too last month – while #OscarsSoWhite, it’s also important to remember that #OscarsSoStraightCisgenderedandHeteronormative too, at least when it comes to “out” actors. No “out and proud” gay actor has ever won an Oscar. Ian McKellen wants to be the first! As for who has it harder, gay folks or black folks… this isn’t a slam against Chiwetel, who was just trying to be an awareness-raising ally, but it’s not a competition, and of course there is intersectionality, because of course there are black, gay actors and gay Hispanic actresses and bisexual Asian actors and they want to be able to work too. Here are some photos of Chiwetel, Kate Winslet, Anthony Mackie and Aaron Paul at a special screening of Triple 9 last week. Um, seriously, WTF is going on with Winslet’s face these days? Photos courtesy of WENN.

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Charlie Hunnam cast as a Mexican-American cartel leader in ‘American Drug Lord’

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Just my opinion: Charlie Hunnam fans have a reason to be worried about his post-Sons of Anarchy career. Hunnam’s career jumpoff was supposed to be Crimson Peak and Fifty Shades of Grey. But Crimson Peak sort of bombed and he dropped out of FSOG after a lot of breast-beating and dramatics. Then his next big career move was supposed to be King Arthur, and it was supposed to be Hunnam’s big summer offering this year… only the release date got pushed back from July 2016 to February 2017, which is not good. So what is Charlie’s next big career move? Playing a Mexican-American cartel drug-lord. Seriously. Before everyone completely loses it, Charlie has been cast as Edgar Valdez in what is a true story in the film American Drug Lord. Valdez was an American citizen, a high school football star in Texas, and he became the only American citizen to “rise to the level of cartel leader in Mexico.” Valdez was also light-skinned and blue-eyed, apparently, and he had the football and cartel-nickname of La Barbie. While Hunnam might “look the part,” this is still an example of Hollywood whitewashing. Even when Hollywood decides to make a movie about a Hispanic figure, they cast someone white (and English). Even when the casting could go any way – as in, they could have cast a Latino actor or a mixed-race actor – producers always go for the default white actor. As Vanity Fair points out, the industry press is already calling out this casting choice as whitewashing. I think the announcement came at a bad time too, when we’re in the middle of a discussion about representation and diversity and #OscarsSoWhite. This also comes on the heels of some particularly egregious whitewashing examples in film, whether it’s Rooney Mara as Tiger Lily in Pan, or Emma Stone playing an Asian-American woman in Aloha or everyone in Ridley Scott’s Exodus. Ugh. Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.