Into the Worst Casting Choices...

      

 
         
           Since Les Miserables, it seems as though Producers want to put people in roles that they are not right for, just so they can cater to the mindless mainstream and bring in the bucks. It's the way Hollywood works...
       
          Ok - I know that this has happened many times prior, (Nine, Dreamgirls, Mame, Hello Dolly - the list goes on...) but I use Les Miserables as an example for the Russell Crowe fiasco. (Personally, I believe many people were miscast in that film, yet I think everyone can agree Crowe had no place in it.)

          This leads us to two films that are coming out in the near future where I, as well as many others, feel they have cast the wrong people in the wrong roles, and the Producers have no idea of the mistake they are making.
          One of these films is not a musical, but about an iconic musical artist, and the other is a Sondheim classic.

          Let's start off with: Zoe Saldana as Nina Simone.
       
         Why this is wrong:
          I'm not even going to go with the fact that Nina Simone disliked white people, and pretty much anyone who wasn't black, and that she will be played by a woman of Dominican/Puerto Rican descent, which is sort of a slap in the face to Nina...But Zoe Saldana is a person of color, so that is not my issue. (Although Nina Simone, herself, would have a fit!)

          My issue is that not only does Zoe look NOTHING like Nina, she doesn't sound like her either...and I'm not talking about the singing voice. Nina's speaking voice was about 10 notches lower than Zoe's and if she fakes it, it's going to sound like she's faking it.

          I am not discrediting Zoe as an actress, as I have enjoyed her work in other films, but casting Zoe in this role is like casting a 40 year old Diana Ross as Dorothy in The Wiz...
          Oh wait - that did happen.
          The role of Nina Simone was originally going to be played by Mary J. Blige  - which would have been great just based on looks and voice alone - and then she dropped the role due to funding.
         (I did my research and that was the only vague explanation I could find)
          So, out of the hundred or so qualified actresses that could have played the role, they went with Zoe Saldona.

          I smell a casting couch.

          And this is what Nina Simone's daughter, Simone (from Broadway shows, Rent, Aida and The Lion King) had to say about it in her interview with Ebony.
          We're pretty much on the same page.

So, here's Nina:

Here's Zoe:

And this is just not right:

         I really dislike seeing biopics where all I can see is the actress and not the person they're portraying...In this case, I wouldn't see either Zoe OR Nina, and if I hadn't known who Nina Simone was before, I'd probably still not know who she was after...

 Moving on:

          What are the Producers thinking of by casting Meryl Streep as the Witch in Into the Woods?
       
          Now, I know there are some die hard Streep fanatics that think she can do anything, being that she is, without question, one of the greatest actresses of our time...
      ...And then there are those that say they won't make their judgements prematurely and will wait and see...
       ...But the truth is, casting Streep as the Witch completely misses the point of her character.
       
          Forget that the Witch has some powerful iconic songs, (nothing like the mindless pop music of Mamma Mia), that Streep does not have the right voice for...(Could this possibly be when auto-tune decides the jump from Glee to Movie Musicals?)...
          The Witch's purpose in the entire first act is to find a spell that returns her to her YOUTH and Beauty.
       
          I'm not saying Meryl cannot be beautiful...but she is far past Youth - especially in cinematic standards.
          When Bernadette Peters originated the role on Broadway, she was 39 years old, and had a glamorous, sexual and gorgeous presence that still read on stage as youthful...
       
          Did Catherine Zeta-Jones slip their minds when they thought of box office draws?

          I won't even go into the "Johnny Depp as the Baker" idea - although he would be better as the Wolf, I can agree on that.

          And so, thanks to Les Miserables, for making me realise that some things should just remain on stage, because most of the people in charge who take it away from that venue have no clue what they're doing.

          But, hey - I could be wrong...(although I hardly ever am when it comes to this kind of stuff...) and Meryl could win her 4th Oscar in this role...
          Or not...
          And I can say this much: These casting choices are no worse than a 71-year old Barbara Streisand playing a 30-something Madame Rose in her version of "Gypsy".
          Oy Vey, Louise!