There’s been a bit of a merry-go-round in the casting for John Madden’s upcoming film version of the classic musical “My Fair Lady;” Keira Knightley was linked to the film for years, but parted ways toward the end of last year, in favor of David Cronenberg’s “The Talking Cure” and Noah Baumbach’s “The Emperor’s Children” (can you blame her?) as well as a rumored role in “Captain America.” Similarly, Daniel Day-Lewis and Colin Firth were both believed to be interested in the male lead, Professor Henry Higgins, but both seem to have been ruled out.
The most recent rumors have suggested that Carey Mulligan and Hugh Grant were being courted for the lead roles, although Mulligan denied the reports a few months back. Things seem to have changed, however; Emma Thompson, who’s written the screenplay for the film, was at the premiere of her latest film, the family sequel “Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang,” last night, and confirmed some of these reports. Speaking to the BBC on the red carpet, she said that “I think Carey is set to play [the role], yes.”
As for Grant, the news is less certain, but he does seem to be the first choice; “I love Hugh so I’d love him to do it, he might want to, he might not want to, so we don’t know yet.” Grant is notoriously hard to lock into roles – he bailed on Susanne Bier-helmed romantic comedy “Lost for Words” shortly before production a few years back, for example. Mulligan, however, is close to Thompson, and is set to start filming on another of her scripts, “Effie,” about the relationship between the Victorian polymath John Ruskin (to be played by Thompson’s husband Greg Wise) and his wife, in a few weeks.
While Mulligan can do no wrong in our eyes, and we’re sure she’ll be great in the part, we stand by our earlier statement that Gemma Arterton seemed to be a better fit for the role. Nevertheless, this is shaping up to be a fairly high-calibre production. Thompson says they’re hoping to get it before cameras before the end of the year, so we expect this to be a major awards contender at the end of 2011.
