Casting News -- April 3, 2009
John Stamos, Gina Gershon, Bill Irwin, and Jayne Houdyshell will star in the Roundabout Theatre Company's Broadway revival of Bye Bye Birdie. Stamos will star as manager-songwriter Albert Peterson; Gershon will play Albert's long-suffering girlfriend, Rose Alvarez; Tony Award winner Irwin will be suburban dad Harry MacAfee; and Jayne Houdyshell (Wicked) will be Albert's guilt-inflicting mother, Mae Peterson. Casting for the roles of star-struck teen Kim MacAfee and the Elvis-like, hip-swiveling Conrad Birdie, as well as other roles, will be announced at a later date.
Aaron Eckhart is in talks to star opposite Nicole Kidman in the film adaptation of Rabbit Hole, about a happily married couple whose lives are disrupted after their 4-year-old son is killed in a traffic accident. The film is based on the Broadway play by David Lindsay-Abaire, who is also writing the screenplay. John Cameron Mitchell will direct. (Variety notes that Kidman signed on for the film two years ago.)
Slumdog Millionaire co-star Anil Kapoor will be a regular on the upcoming eight season of the Fox drama 24. Kapoor will play a Middle Eastern leader who comes to the U.S. on a peacemaking mission. This is the Bollywood actor's first U.S. television role.
Amaury Nolasco has joined the cast of The Rum Diary, the film adaptation of the novel by Hunter S. Thompson. Johnny Depp stars as Thompson; the cast also includes Aaron Eckhart, Amber Heard, Richard Jenkins, Giovanni Ribisi, and Michael Rispoli. Production began this week in Puerto Rico.
Peter Gallagher will appear in a recurring role on the third season of Californication. Gallagher will play a university dean who tangles with star David Duchovny. Rescue Me regular Diane Farr also joins the show as a sex-crazed grad student; Kathleen Turner has already been announced as a literary agent who has a thing for Duchovny.
-- Daniel Lehman
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