Olivia Wilde has deserted her post in Daniel Barber’s “The Keeping Room,” the Civil War era dramatic thriller in which she was set to star opposite Hailee Steinfeld and Nicole Beharie. Wilde and Steinfeld were to play sisters who, along with an African-American slave (Beharie), are forced to defend their Southern home from soldiers who have broken off from the fast-approaching Union Army. Thankfully, another solid actress has snapped up Wilde’s role — Brit Marling will fill in on the now-untitled project.
No word on why the switch occurred, but shooting dates on Wilde’s comedy “Relanxious” in which she will star opposite fiancée Jason Sudeikis have been pushed back, so it’s possible that there was a scheduling conflict here. Or, maybe she just had second thoughts about the material — we’d be lying if we said we didn’t have doubts ourselves.
At least we know that her role is in good hands with Marling. The writer-actress has a busy schedule herself, with “The Company You Keep” still in theaters and “The East” out May 31st (new trailer here), she has already wrapped the Lincoln childhood biopic “The Green Blade Rises” and comedy “Posthumous.” We definitely respect her acting talents, and we expect her to bring a slightly different vibe to this project than Wilde would have. While Wilde and Steinfeld have both shown us their potential to play hard-edged country girls, Marling has come off as a bit more vulnerable. We’re curious to see where she goes with this one. [The Wrap]
