Role Call: Fairy Tale Edition!

by · August 10, 2014

After our adventures at LeakyCon in Florida this last week and meeting some of the Harry Potter cast, the staff at MuggleNet is even more excited about upcoming projects by our favorite actors and actresses! There’s a lot to cover from the past few weeks, and we hope that you’ll be just as anxious to hear all about the new roles our HP alumni have taken on. Don’t forget to keep your eye out for our coverage of LeakyCon since some of the staff will be writing about their experiences this past week both at the convention and inside both Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley and Universal Orlando Resort!

One of the films we have on the schedule for 2015 is Sir Kenneth Branagh‘s live-action version of Cinderella. While we’ve only thus far seen a teaser poster for the film and recently received a tiny sliver of info regarding the point of view the story will be told from, Branagh gave a brief interview to RumorFix about the moral of the story. The video portion of the interview has since been removed, but the quotes from the piece are still available. Says Branagh,

When I reread the fairytale, and I was so struck about how it [a]ffects us – we all identify. In this new Disney live[-]action Cinderella her mother advises her to have courage and be kind, and the message of the picture has that — as if goodness [were] a superpower. This Disney Cinderella will be reliant on finding those magical qualities inside yourself — it is a very positive thought for everybody.

We previously reported on the pre-planned hiatus of the new series Dig, starring Jason Isaacs, amid the political turmoil in the Middle East. It was announced that filming had been moved to the US, in New Mexico. The pilot was filmed in Jerusalem but will begin to film interior scenes in Albuquerque as they search for other international locations for on-location scenes. The new series is set to debut this fall on USA Network.

Actor Brendan Gleeson has signed on for a new film, teaming once more with his Calvary director for The Lame Shall Enter First. Gleeson will play a “crime-solving paraplegic.” Director John Michael McDonough describes Gleeson’s character and a brief synopsis of the film:

It’s about a spectacularly abusive paraplegic. Brendan will be in a wheelchair going around in South London. He hates anyone who’s able bodied, so he basically hates the entirety of society. It will be a dark comedy with a kind of crime element to it because he tries to get his life in order by solving the murder of one of his disabled friends because he believes the police aren’t investigating it properly because the guy was disabled.

Speaking of Gleeson, son Domhnall is becoming quite the catch! Since his romcom About Time was released, he’s been seen and cast in a number of films, both independent and mainstream. A new role was recently announced – this time, it’s a western for the wanted actor. Domhnall will star in The Revenant, also starring lauded actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy in the flick based on a novel of the same name about “a frontiersman who wants to get revenge on a couple of men who left him for dead after being mauled by a bear.” The film is slated to begin shooting this fall.

Ralph Fiennes continues to add to his résumé, though if you blinked, you might have missed the latest role he’s taken on. Based on a French crime drama from 1969, Fiennes has joined The Bigger Splash. According to the Wrap, the film focuses on an “uneasy love triangle that develops between a young woman and an older couple during their vacation, leading to a tragic ending.” The production is expected to begin filming in Italy next month.

For those fans who loved the flashback scenes in any of the Harry Potter books that gave us a glimpse into the lives of young Lily, James, Remus, and Sirius or even the flashforwards where we were given tidbits about the new generations in the Potterverse, such as Victoire or Harry and Ginny’s children, you’re going to love this! Luke Newberry, who originally shot scenes as Remus and Nymphadora’s son Teddy, has opened up about the scenes he filmed. Luke has found fame in the BBC series In the Flesh, a drama about reintegrating people who have been turned into zombies back into normal society. In an interview for Radio Times, Luke expresses his disappointment that his scenes for the HP series only made it as far as the cutting room floor and how since he never actually appeared on screen, a spin-off is possible:

Gutting! It was my dream! But I was technically there, on set. I was never on screen, so I could always appear. Teddy Lupin: The Spin Off Show. That could happen.

Fans of screenwriter Steve Kloves have something to look forward to – Kloves will be producing a live-action version of Rudyard Kipling’s  The Jungle Book with actor Andy Serkis and Warner Bros. The film, thus far titled Jungle Book: Origins, is slated for an October 2016 release. The screenplay was also written by his daughter, Callie Kloves. Casting has not yet begun on the production according to Variety, but we will continue to follow the progression of the film!

Actress Julie Walters recently appeared on the BBC version of Who Do You Think You Are?, a television series that explores the ancestry of celebrities. Often, the stars find surprising information about their family tree, and Walters was no exception. She told What’s on TV about her experience, and you can read the full interview here:

It would have been a bit dull if there weren’t any skeletons. I just hoped that they wouldn’t be too embarrassing. I wanted to be able to walk down the street afterwards and into Boots without people saying, ‘Did you see her on Who Do You Think You Are? BLIMEY!’

Stephen Fry has joined a campaign targeting theater attendees. The campaign aims to have those attending performances to turn off their mobile devices as a way to improve audience etiquette. Fry retweeted a link to the Theatre Charter and asked his followers to do the same:

Fry also has signed on to support the campaign for testicular cancer awareness, tweeting about the Check One Two campaign. View the tweet below:

In addition, Fry joins the largest HP cast reunion on a non-HP project so far, starring alongside Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter, Rhys Ifans, Toby Jones, and Timothy Spall as part of the Disney sequel Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass. Rhys Ifans will play the father to Johnny Depp’s character as previously reported, while Bonham Carter, Fry, Spall, and Rickman return to their prior roles as the Red Queen, Cheshire Cat, Bayard, and the Blue Caterpillar, respectively. Toby Jones joins the voice cast as character Wilkins. You can see the entire cast as announced so far here.

A longer trailer for What We Did On Our Holiday, starring David Tennant, has been released.  The new trailer includes scenes showing more of the trouble the family is having, which Doug (Tennant) tries to hide from his father, played by Billy Connolly. View the new trailer below:

Another trailer that has recently been released stars David Thewlis. While his role in The Theory of Everything is not known as of yet, from the brief glimpse of Thewlis in the trailer, it appears he may be playing some sort of mentor or teacher of Stephen Hawking prior to his devastating diagnosis. The film is based on the book written by Hawking’s wife, Jane, which tells of

… the extraordinary story of one of the world’s greatest living minds, the renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who falls deeply in love with fellow Cambridge student Jane Wilde. Once a healthy, active young man, Hawking received an earth-shattering diagnosis at 21 years of age. With Jane fighting tirelessly by his side, Stephen embarks on his most ambitious scientific work, studying the very thing he now has precious little of – time. Together, they defy impossible odds, breaking new ground in medicine and science and achieving more than they could ever have dreamed.

The film is scheduled for a November 7 release, and you can view the trailer below:

Georgina Leonidas is joining the theatrical production of Black Coffee at the New Victoria Theatre in Woking this week, with the first performance of her tour set for August 14.  Best known by the HP fandom as Katie Bell, Leonidas has also experienced a varied career in television, theater, and film. Broadway World has listed her as “one to watch” as an up and coming actress. To learn more about the show and to purchase tickets, visit the New Victoria Theatre website here.

Finally, John Cleese is set to appear at the Cheltenham Literature Festival to promote his new book, So, Anyway. The festival runs from October 3-12, and you can learn more about the festival and purchase tickets to see Cleese here.

That about wraps it up for casting news over the last few weeks! Now that LeakyCon is over, we’ll get back to our regular weekly Role Call so that you can keep up on all the very latest news regarding projects our HP alumni have taken on. Don’t forget to check out the cast pages for your favorite cast members, and as always, share with us the projects and roles you are most excited about by commenting below! We love hearing your take on all the latest updates and projects you think the actors should be working on.