ScottyDoesn'tKnow2 said: " Oh, boy. If that's the case, I might check out now. Unpopular opinion but after Chicago and Moulin Rouge started off the new round of movie musicals I think Nine was the only one that used "singing actors" and mostly pulled it off (well, the musical numbers if not the whole film). But the score for WSS is much more demanding than others where you can skate by on talk-singing and dramatic phrasing (sure, the character is emotional and that's why you can't hit the notes).
Can they make this story interesting? I get that people like the music, but I just always find this show so dull and boring. And these boring casting choices are not making me exciting. Cabello is SO boring. So dull. Eh.
RippedMan said: " Cabello is SO boring. So dull. Eh."
Just curious, what are you basing this on? Besides her "Havana" music video, we've never seen her act. She seems pretty bubbly and energetic in her interviews.
Camila is a fantastic singer...aint nobody paying her to sing art songs, why should we know about her soprano? Not to mention she’ll be coached as hell. Shoshana Bean has a stunning soprano voice that is rarely heard because it’s not really fitting to her type, or where the money is.
since nobody has mentioned this yet...I subscribe to this girl (I think she is 17 years old? I know she's a senior now) on Youtube named Rachel Zegler, and she claims she has been auditioning for the WSS movie for quite some time now and it has been narrowed down between her and another girl. She gives vague updates from time to time on Twitter and Facebook, and when that tweet came around about Camila, she shut it down and asked people to quit sending her the tweet. So, I'm still holding out for an unknown as Maria if everything she has been saying is the truth. Here's a pic of her and here's a link to her youtube of her playing Maria in her High School production last year, I think!
I'm completely rooting for a newcomer as Maria, but I'm not sure I believe that. Would the producers be happy about her telling people that she's in final callbacks for it? I think she could get in a lot of trouble for that, as something this big would probably be pretty top secret. I wouldn't give it much weight, honestly. I don't want to call this kid a liar, but...
Thank you for posting that link to Rachel Zegler's videos. She's lovely.
In my experience, especially in this digital age, a studio isn't going to try to silence an actor from mentioning they are up for a role - or even in final callbacks for a role. Announcing they got a role, however, is a different matter and the studio publicists would absolutely be involved with strategizing that.
I'm taking ALL of this with a grain of salt. Apparently, the film IS moving forward and is on track to begin shooting next year, but even then, Spielberg has been involved with other projects like MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA that were fully cast (and announced) and months away from beginning filming that were abandoned. He's known to do a lot of prep work to decide if he indeed has enough passion to carry the project to the finish line.
I do think it would be rather uncharacteristic for Spielberg to cast big names for Tony and Maria. When it comes to casting younger actors, he seems to have historically much more than not gone with relative unknowns.
I suspect the people mentioned in this thread are possibly in the mix somehow but that nobody has been officially cast. People usually read too much into tweets and Instagram hints. it also seems unlikely to me that a 'secret project' filming in Montreal would be related to West Side Story or Spielberg.
“I knew who I was this morning, but I've changed a few times since then.”
A big project like this would have NDA’s all over it. No way they’d let some tween tweet all about the auditions and casting. She also looks too young. Even though I think Tony and Maria should be somewhat age appropriate, they’ll at least be in their early 20’s. Casting teens in movies about teens only works on Disney Channel and gives it an amateur feel and can cause it to lack mass appeal and not appeal to older generations...in my opinion. I don’t really think Camila has the right look either, being that even though she’s in her twenties (I believe) she still reads slightly too young. This is something I’ve been fascinated with since Glee, I even participated in a media study on it. Adults are less likely to watch or indulge themselves in a tv series or movie if the main teenage characters actually are teenagers (or at least look super young for their age). We connected this to Lacan’s theories and even interviewed casting directors.
QueenAlice said: "Thank you for posting that link to Rachel Zegler'svideos. She's lovely.
In my experience, especially in this digital age, a studio isn't going to try to silence an actor from mentioning they are up for a role - or even in final callbacks for a role. Announcing they got a role, however, is a different matter and the studio publicists would absolutely be involved with strategizing that."
That's not how the business works, especially with something this big and the lead role in it. Even if there isn't an aforementioned NDA, they would ask her to keep it confidential. I'm taking her words with a MASSIVE grain of salt.
As of last week, theyre in final rounds of callbacks for ensemble and well into callbacks for leads, and theyre heavily considering fresh faces. I'm rooting for rachel too!
Pay attention to Hannah John-Kamen, she's been in a plethora of major blockbusters this year and has a working relationship with Spielberg. She also originated the role of Viva in Viva Forever on the west end.
It's likely between Camila and Rachel Zegler . Cindy Tolan just followed Rachel in the last couple of days on Twitter after months ago following Camila's entire entourage. She hasn't shown interest in any other latina actresses in the correct age range and singing ability. Camila hinted at something new coming up in 2019 in a way that her fandom has come to believe is an indirect reference to WSS. Rachel has followers that are hinting something big may be up as well. And Speilberg was very tight lipped when asked about Camila in October. Expect the announcement after the Grammy Awards.
disneybroadwayfan22 said: "They just announced another round of open calls for Maria, so I guess Camilla fell through"
Only Ansel has been cast definitively . All other parts including Anita and Maria won't likely to be announced until the new year. One gets the impression that Speilberg is staying consistant with keeping everything under cover with strict NDAs with anyone that was asked back after initial auditions. Heck, even Rita ended up "changing" her mind. This is a long time vanity project for him.Rumour has it the PR open calls were for either Anita or Maria and possible bit parts since he's going for as authentic as he can. Kushner is on his 4th draft, so it seems to be coming down to the wire
Ms. Cabello is an unknown to me. But the best reason Natalie Wood was cast in the '62 version was because had anyone I'd ever known met her at a gym dance 5 minutes later he would be on the street singing 'Maria', too.
Ms. Cabello has a kind of god given presence and charisma. Too many examples of it on the internet to specify just one. And the camera loves her, just google/image/this year. The question is if Speilberg will go with an unknown or an established star. Odds are / tje buzz is that Liam Payne is almost signed on for one of the Jets, either Ice or Riff. So who knows where he's going with the casting direction