Okay, I've already ranted about this on TwiFans, but I'm going to copy and paste it here because it is STILL bugging me.
Everyone is all up-in-arms about the supposed possibility of Disney actors auditioning for New Moon. Yeah, maybe a couple of them are, but
in my opinion I doubt they're even being considered.
I'll admit it. I like Brenda Song. She's perky and adorable. Yeah, I'm not a kid anymore, but I tune into the Disney channel every once in a while, and I really like watching her host Disney's 'Pass the Plate'. But COME ON, PEOPLE! Brenda being considered for
Leah? The CD is smarter than that. If you go here (
http://castingscoop.blogspot.com/2009/0 ... re-it.html) (where Lana Veenker talks about the rules of NM casting), you'll notice that she mentions a company that was hired to cast Native Americans. A
separate casting company has been hired to cast
NATIVE AMERICANS. And heck, if their Native American resources end up getting tapped out and they STILL haven't found the perfect actors for a few pack roles, then they'll go on to people that
look Native American. Now, look at Brenda Song. Beautiful, lovely, chipper Brenda Song. Does she even look
remotely Native Amiercan? No.
So on to Vanessa Hudgens, shall we? She's darker skinned than Brenda and doesn't have the Asian eyes (though she's part Filipino). To anybody that's either indifferent about authenticity or is just
ignorant, that might put her in the running for Leah, right? Can't argue with that. Maybe if the casting company gets
desperate...
Don't even get me started about Selena Gomez, who was suggested as being the next target in a tounge-in-cheek article that I'll have to find when the argument calls for it...
A while back, when Twilight had been in theaters for a few weeks and people were beginning to set their sights on the excitement of New Moon, somebody made a good point about the casting: Would anybody more famous than Robert or Kristen be given a part in New Moon? I mean, c'mon. Ben Barnes and Johnny Depp are two EXCELLENT men to consider for Aro, right? Yum. But the poster didn't think either would ever
genuinely be considered.
Twilight isn't a movie that NEEDS cameos from famous people. It doesn't need the excitement of Johnny Depp. It doesn't need the brilliance of Gary Oldman. (No rumors have been directed at him, by the way. I just would love to see him in the franchise.
) Twilight, in itself, has ENOUGH fans to pack the theaters for weeks
on end. How many times could the stack of Breaking Dawn books reach Mt. Everest in its so many first weeks of US sales? Hm? Five? Eight? I can't remember, but that is STILL a lot! (It was probably three or something, knowing my luck.)
Catherine, though she won't be returning for the subsequent films, started a
great thing that I hope Weitz, Rosenberg, and the casting agents will continue: she hired people that weren't incredibly well known. That gave Twilight a
fresh feel, and I don't think they'll be selling out to big name actors anytime soon. After all, they only added 20mil more to their NM budget. Summit's being stingy. Summit will NOT pay more than they need to for actors. That means NO BIG NAMES!
Bringing this entry back full-circle, a lot of the casting possibilities that are popping up on the web are RUMORS. Remember how just a few days before the official announcement, everyone was
so sure that Michael Copon was going to be cast as Jacob? Even
he thought his fate was secured. EW (
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,2023455 ... 77,00.html) (whom, I've heard, is VERY reliable) said that his rep admitted they hadn't even been
approached for the role. As for Brenda's and Vanessa's NM fate, Yahoo!News (
http://news.yahoo.com/s/eonline/2009010 ... p_eo/77902) has covered that, saying that reps for both have claimed that they've not been contacted. I'm not sure how reliable Yahoo!News is, but I'm rather inclined to believe the statement.
Ugggh. I also hate having to convert regular HTML to forum HTML.