Jack O'Connell for Toby Grosini ?

[bruttenholm]

John Hurt says that Jack O'Connell, the actor from Starred Up and Unbroken will star in The Man who killed Don Quixote. Don't know if it would be for the part of Toby Grosini but it certainly seems like it.

[Serendipity]

I've only recently found this site, and this is a first post. So Hi!

But I must say that Jack O'Connell surprises me. He's just so much younger than I was expecting. He's only 24, and looks as if he might actually play younger than the 24 too. And that obviously changes perception of who Toby is going to be (if they keep that name). I've got a copy of the 2000 screenplay, but that's obviously a long way away now from what's (hopefully) actually going to go into production in May now.

I've never actually seen J O'C (consciously) in anything yet, so I can't comment re how good he is, but reports seem to be excellent for both "Starred Up" and "Unbroken". He's certainly onto a great start to his career. And he's a good looking boy. I'm still a bit curious re what the issue was that Terry Gilliam was referring to in that 22.09.14 interview (from other thread), though.

Well, that's what we've been going for, but I'm not sure what's happening at the moment, because we've been tripped up as of a week ago. The choice is whether we stay with a particular actor or start looking for another. We'll see where it goes.

.....John Hurt was reported to have spoken about Jack O'Connell at the BFI London Film Festival Awards, which was on the 18th of this month. That's only a month since Terry Gilliam referred to the problem. I'm presuming that's long enough for Jack O'Connell to be the alternative to whoever the previous choice was. I had assumed that what Terry Gilliam said was indicating that the producers didn't want his first choice, but in retrospect, it sounds more like someone had a timing issue and the choice was whether to delay again or change the actor.

[bruttenholm]

The problem never was a disagreement between the producers and Gilliam over the choice of a particular actor. In another interview (around the 46th minute), Terry Gilliam explicits the problem : "We cast the two main characters(...) and one of the deals may be in trouble because another project that actor was going to do, that was not likely to happen has now possibly come to existence". So that was a problem of timing and schedule.
Yet I don't know if O'Connell is first or 2nd choice (AND don't forget we don't know if he's up for the 2nd lead or a smaller part)... The initial report talks about a shoot in autumn 2015 (when before it was said to happen in springtime 2015) so it could be a mistake from the journalist or it could be that filming has been postponed to accomodate O'Connell's schedule. I don't know.

[Serendipity]

That was an interesting interview. I wouldn't've come across that, so thank you. And, yes, it sounds like the problem previously mentioned was indeed a scheduling conflict. I couldn't see when that interview took place, though, relative to the other comments from both Terry Gilliam and John Hurt. Given the statement re waiting on a confirmatory telephone call that day, that would be interesting. It could be that the query was actually over Jack O'Connell and that he was the one who either dropped (or didn't drop) in the end. He's obviously on a roll, and is not unlikely to have been offered something so big that it would've had to supercede TMWKDQ. Terry Gilliams actual words, though, sounded more like someone had been going to do something that had fallen through for scheduling or other reasons but which had been resuscitated. A prior claim, as it were, coming back. And that's less likely re J O'C and coincidences there do slightly point in another particular direction. I'm probably putting two and two together to get five, though, so I won't mention it.

But re the Sancho Panza role, I think that's probably/actually the lead, or at least co-lead with Quixote. And given Jack O'Connell being on the roll he's on, with Oscar buzz potentially for "Unbroken", I don't think he'd be in the market for a very secondary character. So if he's in it, I don't think he could be anyone other than Toby, aka Sancho Panza. And I don't think the John Hurt comment would ever have been made if he was only referring to a secondary character, either.

[bruttenholm]

I agree with you concerning the importance of the part.

For info the video interview I linked to was from late august-early september.

[Serendipity]

I agree with you concerning the importance of the part.

For info the video interview I linked to was from late august-early september.

If that interview was that early (not that that's so long ago), is the actor issue actually the same issue, though? He talks there about expecting a confirmatory phone call that day, when the having to choose whether to stay with an actor or find someone else was said at the "The Imitation Game" premiere in early October and was quoted as being a problem that had only arisen the week before. Exact words have been forgotten, but that was the gist. Or maybe there was an earlier issue that was thought resolved that reasserted itself again.

If your assumption re a Benedict has some foundation in fact, Bruttenholm, there is a logical candidate (might even be two, if you count Strange) re a scheduling conflict. He was roped in to Gary Oldman's pet project "Flying Horse" with Ralph Fiennes long ago, that was supposed to happen last year. But GO didn't get the finance. Then, fairly recently, he said he's got the money now. That would tally with that earlier interview timing.

[bruttenholm]

when the having to choose whether to stay with an actor or find someone else was said at the "The Imitation Game" premiere in early October

Which interview do you talk about ?

Anyway, whatever choice has been done, I think we can assume that John Hurt is aware of it, so his comment about Jack O'Connell must be up to date. If the dilemma about the first actor resolved in hiring Jack O'Connell or if O'Connell was the first choice and they postponed the filming for him or if all turned out well for the 2 parties and the conflictual other film was cancelled, I'm not sure we'll know...

[cclark]

From the Wrap back in August, when this had a post-Christmas 2014 shoot date:

“Our main character actually made a Don Quixote movie a lot earlier in his history,” Gilliam revealed, “and the effect it had on many people wasn't very nice. Some people go mad, some people turn to drink, some people become whores.”

I imagined that the character Toby would be a little older than Jack O'Connell by at least 5 years (especially due to Gilliam's quote, “Our main character actually made a Don Quixote movie a lot earlier in his history”.) I imagined someone like Bryan Cranston in the role, or at least Benedict Cumberbatch. I guess they'll tweak the script to reflect O'Connell's age, or make him seem older. Does anyone know if he's supposed to play an actor or the director (or screenwriter) of this film-within-the-film? I guess he could be an Orson Welles-like wunderkind (which would add another interesting wrinkle).

[bruttenholm]

Someone like Bryan Cranston seemed always out of the equation. When the project got revived this year, Gilliam said that Johnny Depp was "too old" for the part, so that was going to be someone under 40 anyway. And John Hurt talked about a "young man" for his co-star :

HURT: All things being equal, I hope I’ll be working with Terry Gilliam next year on THE MAN WHO KILLED DON QUIXOTE, the one he’s been trying to make for eons.

FANG: So that’s finally getting up and running?

HURT: I hope so. I’m going to go out and do a test for him—not for me, but for the young man [who will co-star], and when I get back I’ve got to find the time to learn it.

So it seems to me that a strong contrast between the age of Quixote and the age of Toby was planned from the start.
That being said, I don't know if Toby could technically be that young or if it goes against the screenplay.

P.S : Benedict Cumberbatch is now linked to the part of Dr Strange so 1)it shows that he had a space in his schedule for a shoot next spring, 2)if he was in the mix for Toby's role, Dr Strange could be the other project "that was not likely to happen has now possibly come to existence". 3)it means that he'd prefer to work with Scott Derrickson than with Gilliam so that may be a proof that he was not in the mix for Toby

[cclark]

Bryan Cranston was definitely a long shot, just something I'd hoped for since Gilliam raved so much about Breaking Bad. I would like to see them work together someday.

Going by Gilliam's quote, “Our main character actually made a Don Quixote movie a lot earlier in his history,” I assumed (once Quixote was revived with the film-within-a-film storyline) that Toby was the director of that film, given that Gilliam seemed to be taking a more autobiographical approach. It could certainly work with a young actor. Welles was 24 when he directed Citizen Kane, so to believe that a 20-something character could direct a Quixote film is not really a stretch at all. I have yet to see Jack O'Connell in anything, but judging by his interviews on YouTube, he could pass for someone a little bit older (if necessary). The only catch for me is the part about Toby making the movie "a lot earlier in his history" which could be interpreted that the character should be a little older. Anyway, it seems Jack is all but officially confirmed for the part so I'm sure it will work.

Cumberbatch is another actor I'd like to see work with Gilliam in the future. I had read that he was linked to Dr. Strange, but there was no shoot date set (yet) that could've interfered with Quixote's previous spring shoot date.* As far as I know, there isn't even a completed script for Strange, though they were looking at a 2016 release date. Now that Quixote is shooting in the fall I'd agree that Cumberbatch is most definitely not in the mix.

*Update: For what it's worth, Dr. Strange will begin production in spring 2015.