UPDATE: Keira Knightley Officially 'My Fair Lady' for Joe Wright
Filed under: Classics, Music & Musicals, Romance, Casting, Sony, RumorMonger, Newsstand, Remakes and Sequels, Daniel Craig
Last summer, it was reported that Columbia was setting up a remake of My Fair Lady and that Keira Knightley was pursuing the iconic, Cockney role of Eliza Doolittle. While Knightley has been "attached" ever since, The Telegraph reports that Scarlett Johansson was also vying for the role. But Knightley won out, and the Telegraph not only confirms that she's got the role, but that Joe Wright will be directing. Emma Thompson is writing the script. Knightley has been taking singing lessons ever since the possibility came up (and I actually think she proved she had a good voice in The Edge of Love), and I think she'll be absolutely charming as Doolittle. But then I'm biased towards her. Even if you aren't (and I expect many "too skinny!" comments), I think the combination of Wright and Thompson pushes this into very, very promising territory. Thompson can do no wrong by me.
What will really tip the balance is who they cast as the grumpy, misogynist Professor Henry Higgins. The Telegraph reports that Daniel Craig is being considered, and he'd certainly be ideal as the grim Higgins, probably moreso than the dapper Hugh Jackman. I wouldn't mind seeing Patrick Wilson become a contender, and I half wonder if Gerard Butler's vocal chords were trotted out on Saturday Night Live as an audition. Just you wait, and practice your R's, and we'll see whose face Knightley must become accustomed to.
UPDATE: Screenrush caught up with Joe Wright, who says he never signed on, and is uninterested. Given the shakiness of the initial report, it's unclear whether Knightley's casting is official either.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-26-2009 @ 11:41AM
doa766 said...
gerard butler already sang on the phantom of tha opera
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10-26-2009 @ 12:47PM
Julie said...
Excellent news! I think this sounds very promising. And as for Henry Higgins, I'd love to see The Butler in it. Daniel Craig might not be bad either.
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10-26-2009 @ 11:59AM
Jen said...
Perfect choice for Higgins - Hugh Laurie. Plus, he's an old friend of Thompson's.
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10-26-2009 @ 2:20PM
Rivndellelf said...
While I totally disagree with remaking My Fair Lady, I do have to agree that if they're going to do it anyway, Hugh Laurie is the way to go...
10-26-2009 @ 2:51PM
Ezri said...
Jackman already did Higgins - in a high school :-) I think he would be perfect. There is no better musical actor than him, come on, he has an amazing voice. And Higgins is supposed to be "gentleman" but also grumpy...Jackman can do both, he is an amazing actor.
Daniel Craig...no, seriously, no...he is a great actor but not for this role.
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10-26-2009 @ 1:44PM
Thomas said...
Daniel Craig an ideal Higgins? GAG! As for Eliza, I'd much prefer eiher Amy Adams or Anne Hathaway, not anyone in need of singing lessons.
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10-27-2009 @ 9:49AM
Jennifer said...
I'm right there with you. Anne Hathaway even looks the part and we KNOW she can sing.
10-26-2009 @ 1:49PM
pete thomson said...
Id rather eat roadkill covered in lice than watch this! Its a US movie studios marketing department's dream. London covered in strike a light salt of the earth Sherlock Holmes type cockneys tick! Ikea Knightly playing a outdated wooden stereotype who's petulant and spoilt tick! Emma Thomson bringing oscar gravitas and money to an otherwise populist unnecessary money making cynical safe remake tick! Jo Wright who owes the studios a favor after the disaster that was The Soloist is huffing because he cant make his Cate Blanchet movie in India and is guaranteed to get a passable performance out of Ikea tick! Bound to play well with the Americans, particularly those who still think Britain is really only England and begins and ends with London tick!! God help creativity and innovation ugh!
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10-26-2009 @ 1:59PM
Liz said...
Ugh, Keira Knightley sounded horrible in Edge of Love. Her voice was so thin and overly-produced for a simple song in that film, how can we possibly expect her to be able to sing My Fair Lady? The music she will have to sing is not easy; it requires quite a range, which I fear she lacks. She'll look nice, but I dread having to hear her sing. Blerg.
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10-26-2009 @ 2:00PM
villageidjut said...
Jen is absolutely right. Hugh Laurie would definitely be the best fit.
If you need convincing just watch some YouTube clips of 'A Bit of Fry and Laurie'.
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10-26-2009 @ 3:04PM
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10-26-2009 @ 4:17PM
weetiger3 said...
I agree with Rivndellelf, I don't understand why this needs to be remade at all. However, Keira Knightley and Joe Wright are a proven combination. (For the record, I also liked The Soloist very much. As for the "too skinny" comments, I'd probably be right there making them if not for the fact that she's the same physical type as Audrey Hepburn, so for this, at least, I can see it.) As for her voice it was more than passable in Edge of Love and with lessons should be fine. At least she won't have to be dubbed, as Hepburn was. I have to agree, throw Emma Thompson in there and I'm already in line for tickets.
As for who should be her Higgins, just please lord let it be someone with whom she has chemistry! As evinced by Rex Harrison, it does not have to be someone with a fantastic voice (although it would be nice.) I can definitely see Hugh Laurie in the role. Or either Daniel Craig or Gerard Butler (although call me crazy but I can't see either of them jumping at it.)
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10-26-2009 @ 8:25PM
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10-27-2009 @ 7:56AM
anon said...
Much as I'd love to see Butler do another musical, I'm not sure MFL is the one. The precise diction required is just going to be trouble, although his English accent is better than his American one. I'd rather see him do Javert in Les Miserables, maybe against a nice tenor like Jackman. (Why has no one done this as a movie yet?) I'm also hoping against hope for Bard in The Hobbit.
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10-27-2009 @ 8:52AM
lw said...
Pierce Brosnan for Higgins. He wasn't terrible in Mama Mia and could definitely play the dandy.
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11-01-2009 @ 8:59AM
Charleybrown said...
Joe Wright has stated that he is not involved with the remake.
http://cinemablend.com/new/Joe-Wright-Definitely-Not-Directing-My-Fair-Lady-Remake-15470.html
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11-03-2009 @ 9:33AM
Kate Sim said...
I love Keira!! and it'd be great with Daniel Craig... but still uncomfortable with the idea of them singing...
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