Colin Firth Joins 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'
Filed under: Classics, Drama, Horror, Independent, Casting, Mystery & Suspense, Newsstand
At last, there's a delightful cast addition to The Picture of Dorian Gray. In all the excitement of summer, this film undoubtedly dropped off your radar. But back in May, Ben Barnes (otherwise known as Prince Caspian) was cast as the eternally beautiful lead. (I know some of you haven't forgotten, I get comments praising Barnes about once a week. He's got quite a following!)Now, the god of lushly wet shirts (otherwise known as Colin Firth ) has joined the cast. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he'll be playing the witty Lord Henry Wotton, the aristocrat who corrupts young Gray with his hedonistic pursuits and outlook. And yes, there's a good dash of homoeroticism inherent in their relationship as well. It has the potential to be deliciously dark and twisted onscreen.
Firth is, obviously, no stranger to costume pieces or Oscar Wilde. He co-starred in the delightful The Importance of Being Earnest, which was also directed by Wilde aficionado Oliver Parker. As they're selling this as a "visceral, dark horror story," I'm really excited to see Firth in it. He seems to be the go-to guy for American romantic comedies lately, and it will be fun to see him be villainous again. Filming begins this week, and I bet there will be photos of both men in cravats and poet shirts in London's Metro paper by the end of August.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-01-2008 @ 11:58AM
Gina said...
Interesting choice! I wouldn't have thought of him for the role, but now I'm rather intrigued to see what he'll do with it. Maybe I just haven't seen that much of his output, but I don't remember him ever playing a part quite so wickedly witty (or wittily wicked?).
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8-30-2008 @ 1:01PM
Mark said...
I'm very happy a legitimate adaption of Oscar Wilde's only novel is in the works. The last good adaptation was the BBC's 1976 television production staring Peter Firth and Sir John Gielgud. With today's obsession with eternal youth, socio-economic class distinctions, and the success of 2005's "Brokeback Mountain" I think a current cinematic representation could rival 1945's version with George Sanders and Angela Landsbury (although both give definitive interpretations). I think Colin Firth is an interesting choice to compare with Sanders and Gielgud. Firth's understated charm should make his Lord Wotton quite compelling.
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9-10-2008 @ 4:50PM
Liz Ellerbe said...
I will for sure see this movie, although I think Colin Firth smiles too much.
9-11-2008 @ 9:03PM
linda said...
I could not think of a better choice than Colin Firth as Lord Henry, He is equally brilliant playing rather dark and secretive characters as well as romcom guys. He is a fantastic addition to this movie and now I can't wait to see it.
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