New "My Fair Lady" film. Not a joke!

[Dottie]

This actually sounds interesting. My Fair Lady has never been my favorite musical, so I feel less protective of it, even though I adore Audrey Hepburn.

Keira might be good if she can pull off the singing. Anne Hathaway would be an excellent choice as well.

Daniel Day-Lewis? I don't know. I know he's a marvelous actor, but honestly the first person who came into my head when I read the thread title was the wonderful Colin Firth. He can do no wrong in my opinion.

Totally agree on that although I think Keira Knightley is miscast, but we will see. She is a terrific actress, but with like only 6 months of singing lesssons I doubt she can pull it off because the score of MFL is really hard to sing.
And you are so right, Colin Firth can do no wrong, I so love this man, but I think he might not seem "grumpy" enough to be a convincing Higgins, but I also doubt that Day-Lewis can pull it off. But then again he already did the kinda "grumpy" part in Pride and Prejudice, so I guess he could do it. And he certainly is a British gentleman and his accent would be perfect. But can't we just CG Rex Harrison into the movie?

[Marianne81]

And you are so right, Colin Firth can do no wrong, I so love this man, but I think he might not seem "grumpy" enough to be a convincing Higgins, but I also doubt that Day-Lewis can pull it off. But then again he already did the kinda "grumpy" part in Pride and Prejudice, so I guess he could do it. And he certainly is a British gentleman and his accent would be perfect. But can't we just CG Rex Harrison into the movie?

You're right, he is sort of grumpy and aloof in P&P, but we also see his tender side in that part. He's also sort of mean and grumpy in "Shakespeare in Love". And the more sensitive side to the part he can obviously pull off as seen in his roles in "Nanny Mcphee" and "Love Actually".

A CG Rex Harrison Hey they put digital Laurence Oliver in "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow", so anything's possible

[Jack Skellington]

OMG "My Fair Lady" is one of my absoloute fav's and Keira is also my absoloute fav. actor, this can't be happening !

[Dottie]

And you are so right, Colin Firth can do no wrong, I so love this man, but I think he might not seem "grumpy" enough to be a convincing Higgins, but I also doubt that Day-Lewis can pull it off. But then again he already did the kinda "grumpy" part in Pride and Prejudice, so I guess he could do it. And he certainly is a British gentleman and his accent would be perfect. But can't we just CG Rex Harrison into the movie?

You're right, he is sort of grumpy and aloof in P&P, but we also see his tender side in that part. He's also sort of mean and grumpy in "Shakespeare in Love". And the more sensitive side to the part he can obviously pull off as seen in his roles in "Nanny Mcphee" and "Love Actually".

A CG Rex Harrison Hey they put digital Laurence Oliver in "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow", so anything's possible

Just imagine him "singing" " "I've grown accustomed to her face" That'd make me sooooo happy

I think Hugh Jackman or Toby Stephens might do a great job too with this role, but I just can't imagine Daniel Day-Lewis playing it.

[Marianne81]

I think Hugh Jackman or Toby Stephens might do a great job too with this role, but I just can't imagine Daniel Day-Lewis playing it.

I love Hugh Jackman as well. He would be another good choice. I am not familar with Toby Stephens. What are some of his roles?

I was thinking who might be cast as Freddie. The only person that comes to mind is Patrick Wilson. He is the proper age, very handsome, and has the right kind of voice to sing "On the Street Where You Live". But I don't know if he can do a British accent. Any thoughts?

[Dottie]

I think Hugh Jackman or Toby Stephens might do a great job too with this role, but I just can't imagine Daniel Day-Lewis playing it.

I love Hugh Jackman as well. He would be another good choice. I am not familar with Toby Stephens. What are some of his roles?

Toby Stephens is Maggie Smith's (Prof. McGonagall in Harry Potter) son and he played Mr. Rochester in the 2006 BBC mini-series of Jane Eyre.
He also was in Die Another Day.
But he usually does more stage-work than movies.

[PrincePhillipFan]

I'm not really sure how to feel about this casting. I think Keira is a very good actress, but I really can't picture her as Eliza, especially doing the cockney accent. Same with Daniel Day-Lewis, he's a wonderful actor, but I can't picture him as it. I still think that either Grammer or Jeremy Irons from the studio cast version would be better suited as Higgins.

[tsom]

Some updates:

-Keira Knightley is definitely Eliza Doolittle! She beat out Scarlett Johansson for the role.

-Joe Wright, director of Pride and Prejudice, Atonement, and The Soloist, will direct the movie.

-Emma Thompson is writing the screenplay

-Daniel Craig is in the running for the role of Henry Higgins.

[SpringHeelJack]

Still prefer Hugh Laurie over Daniel Craig, but Joe Wright seems like he could be a good choice for director.

[Cordy_Biddle]

Still think Anne Hathaway would have been the better choice. She can SING, she has the dramatic ability and her looks would perfectly suit the Edwardian time period of the story. And she's already successfully conquered a British accent in "Becoming Jane".

I'm willing to keep an open mind about Keira...

[UmbrellaFish]

Well, according to this article, Keira Knightley has dropped out of the running for the role of Eliza, by her choice.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/ar ... y-all.html

[Cordy_Biddle]

She is a smart girl, then.

[SpringHeelJack]

Hmm. Good. I wonder if the project will be shelved...

[tsom]

Awh. I was in support for Keira.

I love the original, but I'm curious to see how this would play to a 21st century audience. They better get Julie Andrews for Mrs. Higgins!

[UmbrellaFish]

Well, Carey Mulligan was cast for Eliza and John Madden was going to direct, but now...

Film-maker John Madden has quit as director of the My Fair Lady movie, which was tentatively set to begin filming later this year or early next.

I understand there were clashes over which actor would play Professor Henry Higgins.

Madden, who made Oscar-winning Shakespeare In Love and the forthcoming thriller The Debt, had his ideas, while the studio had theirs.
That rain in Spain dampens everything.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/ar ... z0m9eKetJq

Unless they find a new director quick, I think this film is fast on its way to being canned, which is sad because I genuinely think they could improve upon the original... Oh well...

[slave2moonlight]

I haven't seen the original for a long time, but I remember having some casting ideas of my own. I unfortunately can only remember a couple now, but I thought Hugh Grant would be good for Henry Higgins. I also liked Oliver Platt for one of the lesser characters. I forget what he was, a language expert or something? A guy they used to put Eliza to the test... I think Keira is a great choice, but I have no idea of she sings... There's also always the girl who starred in Phantom. I can't remember who I used to want for that role, or for Higgins' pal.

[UmbrellaFish]

Emma Thompson, screenwriter for new MFL film, says Hepburn couldn't act

http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.as ... &GT1=28101

Well, not really a smart thing to say, publicity-wise for herself. I mean Hepburn is very much adored, and she could act. She's not Eliza to me, but she could act. I really would like to see Carey Mulligan, myself.

Another point- anybody get the feeling Emma's a Julie fan? I mean, Nanny McPhee is Mary Poppins with warts. Combined that with these recent statements... maybe Julie will be the next Mrs. Doolittle? I hope so!

[TheSequelOfDisney]

As much as I like Audrey, she wasn't Julie. Eliza is Julie's role. Did you post somewhere that in a discussionbetween Audrey and Julie, Audrey said that Julie should have played Eliza in the film but she wasn't brave enough to turn them down? I find that interesting because I think the film would've been quite different if Julie had her role.

[UmbrellaFish]

As much as I like Audrey, she wasn't Julie. Eliza is Julie's role. Did you post somewhere that in a discussionbetween Audrey and Julie, Audrey said that Julie should have played Eliza in the film but she wasn't brave enough to turn them down? I find that interesting because I think the film would've been quite different if Julie had her role.

I don't think I posted that. Either tsom or pap64 (I think pap64) did.

But that's true. The long story, though, is that when they finally decided to turn MFL into a movie, neither Julie, Rex, or Stanley Holloway were supposed to be in it. I don't believe Julie was ever offered a screentest, but Rex was and he turned it down (he said he'd already played the role on B'way, he didn't need to audition for it).

So, Jack Warner went to Cary Grant to play Higgins. Grant said he wouldn't do the role, and he wouldn't even see the film if Harrison wasn't Higgins. So Jack was pretty much stuck with Rex (not a bad thing, obviously).

So now since Higgins wasn't going to be a big-name star (Harrison had been in pictures before, but he wasn't bankable anymore), Eliza had to. Meanwhile, Alan Jay Lerner was petitioning for Julie to get the role.

I read once that when Audrey heard she was in the running for Eliza, she held a party at her home to sway Warner into casting Julie (note, Julie wasn't present at this party. At the time, I doubt Julie or Audrey even knew each other). Hepburn soon learned that this was futile and initially declined the role. She only accepted it, however, when she was told that Julie still wouldn't get the role if Audrey didn't take it, and that Elizabeth Taylor would get the role instead.

I guess, because Audrey was in it, they let Stanely Holloway appear, who, if he wasn't cast in MFL, was to play Admirable Boom in Mary Poppins.

[Cordy_Biddle]

Wow...Emma Thompson isn't going to garner any new admirers for bagging out one of the greatest film personalities OF ALL TIME. Sure, I don't think Audrey was especially suited to the role of Eliza but she put on a brave face and ended up giving a loverly performance (still fondly remembered by most, so it can't have been all bad).

Julie Andrews was NEVER going to have the chance to play the role with someone as business and money-minded as Jack Warner at the helm. And Elizabeth Taylor as Eliza? I don't think so. Liz couldn't have pulled off guttersnipe if she tried.

Emma, we get it...Audrey was miscast and couldn't sing the role...but bagging her out just to curry favour for the remake's Eliza is a low blow.