Lolita
discussion
Casting for "Lolita"
date
newest »
newest »
Great casting in picking V. Vaughan. I think he'd be brilliant. I think Robert Downey, Jr. would be a great HH.
Nice thread!My picks:
- H. Humbert: Clive Owen would certainly be interesting in the role - he's definitely got the talent for it - and Robert Downey Jr, if quieter than usual, might be a fine HH as well. Personally, I think Christian Bale improves any movie, and if anybody's got the acting chops to do M. Humbert just right, it's him. He's got the looks, too!
- Charlotte Haze: 'Dyu know, somehow I keep imagining Jennifer Aniston in this role. Jennifer Aniston with about 20 extra pounds on her. She'd be pretty enough to be convincing as Mrs. Haze, have a youthful look which would line her up with whoever's playing Lola, and could do the overemotional, jealous-of-her-own-daughter thing quite nicely. Maybe?
- Dolores Haze: I have to agree with you, Minty, a complete unknown Lola would be ideal. Something like Sixth Sense, where a director gets a really good performance from a kid, would be awesome.
- Clare Quilty: If I might go all unconventional again, what about Stephen Fry? Yes, he's not attractive, and looks nothing like M. Humbert, but if he does the Oscar Wilde look, he could be both attractive and immensely talented. Of course, the unconventional thing here might be to get a non-comedian for Quilty, and just make him really nasty and evil instead. Perhaps Peter Sellers has ruined this role for everybody?
The bigger question might be: who will direct them?
Libbie: Thanks for the tip, I will!
Humbert: James MasonCharlotte: Shelley Winters
Dolores: Sue Lyon
Quilty: Peter Sellers
Oh wait...
I love the idea of Jennifer Aniston as Delores, that'd be a stretch for her- seeming cruel, sending her daughter away. She can smoke though.I could see Sam Neill as Humbert and Rip Torn as Quilty.
I don't know enough nine year olds to really give and opinion, but I don't think Lolita should be older than eleven.
If we are allowed time machines, I'd pick a young Christina Ricci (Adam's Family time) for Dolores.Alan Rickman for Humbert?
I'm with Libbie; I saw the 1997 film shortly after I read the novel and I thought it was perfect.
Minty wrote: "But it would be best to find some Russian or Eastern European waif destined to be a prostitute or mail-order bride to play her. There are plenty of these ethereal beauties desperate for work and it would be a nice tie-in to have a Russian or ex-Soviet actress play the lead. She would just have to speak more than passable English. ..."Wow! How incredibly patronizing! I really am speechless.
Wow.
Like the Clive Owen idea for HH. That's basically what Kubrick did, getting a bankable male lead that could also act, in casting Mason. G.Clooney could do it, too-- it requires a little bulk, a little connivance, and a lot of 'winning smile' work to get over on everyone else ... Nabokov mentions HH's matinee good looks a couple of times, and it makes it doubly chilly when we see inside his weirdo 'thing'...
I keep thinking a young 'Usual Suspects'-era Kevin Spacey would've been a good Quilty. Something about that shifty, blank-canvas grifter look that he had, back then.
While I love Jeremy Iron's flat-out self-sacrificial HH portrayal in the Lyne film-- and his voice, his sugared, devious, falteringly swooning voice -- nicely done, almost a theater version.... Have a listen to his reading of Lola on the Audiobook sometime---
... I do think the Kubrick film is an unsurmountably high bar to think around or over. Shelley Winters. Sellers. It's hard to rethink them, re-envision them. To prove it, try to remember who played Mrs Haze or Quilty in the Lyne film. They certainly don't come screaming across the widescreen like the Kubrick cast.
But in a world where L. DiCaprio can be seriously considered as a lead in The Great Gatsby, it's the rule of diminishing returns we have to look forward to.... what next, DiCaprio in Citizen Kane ? Brad Pitt in Casablanca ?
I'd rather watch cartoons.
J.
How about a bit from each? Elle Fanning works well, so do George Clooney and Stephen Fry, even Jennifer Aniston, she can play bitchy if need be...... Or that other one from Friends, Lisa Kudrow? Add some extra pounds, could she pull it off? I don't like the idea of using a Russian kid, this is an all American girl, and needs to be genuine.Scratch that, George Clooney I mean, the more I think about it the less I like it. I don't know if he could pull it off, same for Clive Owen.... Hmm,
there's an actor who was in some Jane Austen adaptations who played knaves, damn dunno his name.....
My first reaction to the news of the Lyne pic was of disbelief; why tinker with Lolita, or even imagine you'd ever get near to a true classic, the Kubrick masterpiece. When I first saw the Lyne version it struck me as exactly that-- a pretentious, too-solemn remake from a second rate director who shouldn't have gotten his hands on it. Although helped out of complete fiasco by some excellent actors.
Seeing it again by chance somewhere I was struck by the acting and the depth of their concept of the parts involved. Hearing Irons narrate it immaculately on the audiobook closed the circuit pretty well. This text is a pantheon sort of document, valuable before it even gets near a stage or screen. Lyne's effort was serious but it was doomed from the start; his cast's accomplished rendering pulled him out of the complete-disaster hole.
Kubrick, let us not forget, had Vladimir Nabokov onboard for the script, and so you immediately have a kind of ultra team on the project, from the start. So if it always seems like it was a untouchably magical combination, maybe it just was.
In the end, I think it's good to get things like Lolita into what might be called 'the rotation' in music. Cover versions, instrumentals, mixes, mashups -- are all permitted, encouraged, even. As long as they're worthwhile.
People do Shakespeare, let's remember, in scuba-suits, in outer-space, in the nude. Why not the same status for Nabokov....
no one can beat dominique swain's performance.
I think Chloe Moretz would be great as Lolita, she was very good in 'Let me in'...
I think Jeremy Irons was pretty perfect for Humbert Humert (the Voice.. the Audiobook Version is a masterpiece), just a little bit too old, same for Dominique Swain. The acting is beautiful, but the with the older Dolores (she was like 16 right?), the whole plot looses some of it's dread because Dominique Swain is just too old.I'm not too concerned about the actors... but plz no watered down plot again... 1997 version was pretty ok, but some evil details left out (The sleeping pill thingy is completely different in die 1997 movie...).
H.H. : Jeremy Irons, 1997 -8 Years, could also imagine Vince Vaughn
Dolores: Most known actors are already too old... she MUST look like 12, not 15,16 or 17.
Quilty: Frank Langella was good
Dolores Haze: Melanie Griffith was maybe a little bit too good looking...
Melanie wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Minty wrote: "But it would be best to find some Russian or Eastern European waif destined to be a prostitute or mail-order bride to play her. There are plenty of these ethereal beau..."I'll also agree! I'm surprised more people here either didn't pick up on that or don't care to respond. The only reason a child would be destined to be a prostitute or a mail-order bride is because they are viewed as disposable tools for another's enjoyment (you know, like being put in a difficult movie involving sexually oriented scenes with an adult, which could be distressing to a child). How about changing the way we deal with human trafficking and making it a stronger international concern? I mean, I know that would make casting your version of Lolita more difficult, but I'm sure a few waifs would slip through the cracks, so not all would be lost.
Humbert Humbert – Clive Owen. He always seemed sleazy to me, but he’s undeniably handsome and charming. More importantly, in Appel’s annotated version of the novel, he includes an advertisement with a man that Nabokov used as a model for Humbert. The man sort of looks like Pierce Brosnan, but I feel Owen is more suited for the part.
Charlotte Haze – Dinah Lohan. She’s not an actress, but she is Charlotte Haze.
Delores Haze – This is the hardest. It is critical that she be much younger than previous actresses have been, but the problem with child actors is that they are generally a) terrible and b) unbeknownst to the public. If I had to take a gamble, I’d choose go-to girl Dakota Fanning. She’s probably not young enough and I can’t imagine her as Lo, but she’s always incredibly convincing in difficult roles so I suspect that she could pull it off. But it would be best to find some Russian or Eastern European waif destined to be a prostitute or mail-order bride to play her. There are plenty of these ethereal beauties desperate for work and it would be a nice tie-in to have a Russian or ex-Soviet actress play the lead. She would just have to speak more than passable English.
Clare Quilty – This is also hard too, but only because Jack Nicholson is too old. In the Hollywood hierarchy, Colin Farrell seems poised to assume Nicholson’s role as unabashed bachelor/rogue, but he’s too young. Timothy Olymphant and Joaquin Phoenix could probably do a decent job. And Vince Vaughan would be perfect, but it would be hard for an audience to believe him in the role. He’d probably win an Oscar if he pulled it off.