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Short
Cuts
 The
Mexican Angle
SO what do Jennifer Lopez and Salma Hayek have in common? You’d never
guess. Mexican painter Frida Kahlo’s biopic. Both Lopez and Hayek
are currently working on two separate projects — both Kahlo’s
biopics. And now it looks like Hayek may beat Lopez to the big screen.
Hayek, who’s long been attached to star as the iconic artist for
Miramax, is now lining up an impressive set of cast members, including
Antonio Banderas, Ashley Judd, and Edward Norton. The Hayek-starrer may
also be close to netting a director. Julie Taymor, whose theatrical staging
of The Lion King brought her kudos and a Tony Award, is in negotiations
to helm the picture. The other Frida Kahlo project, in which Lopez is
to star, also has some big guns on board, with Luis Valdez (La Bamba)
in the director’s chair and Francis Ford Coppola acting as producer.
Meanwhile, the Miramax project is also close to finding a leading man.
Alfred Molina, of CBS’ Ladies Man, is in talks to take on the role
of Kahlo’s famous painter husband, Diego Rivera.
 Reel
Life Lovers
SO what if Julia Roberts and John Cusack are not real-life lovers. They
will soon be heading that way — on-screen of course. And get a load
of this: Catherine Zeta-Jones may join them! And what we are talking about
are those fiery romantic triangles. The film, America’s Sweethearts,
is based on a script by Billy Crystal and Peter Tolan.Cusack and Zeta-Jones
would play the titular duo, married movie stars whose marriage —
in the Bruce-and-Demi, Meg-and-Dennis mode — has come apart. Crystal
may also star in the film as a publicist who attempts to keep the marriage
alive for promotional purposes, even as Cusack’s character is falling
for his wife’s newly slimmed-down sister, played by Roberts. Cusack
and Zeta-Jones played former lovers earlier this year in the sardonic
comedy High Fidelity. Production is expected to commence from January.
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Polanski’s
Different Keys
 ‘‘MAN
aged 25-35, slight build, dark colouring... He needs to be sensitive,
vulnerable and charismatic.’’ A personal ad? Actually,
an invitation to play the leading role in Roman Polanski’s
next film. As publicised in the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper,
an open audition, for which acting experience is ‘‘not
essential, ‘‘ will be in London’s Covent Garden to
find a perfect fit for the role of Polish musician Wladyslaw Szpilman.
Polanski has
waited a long time to make The Pianist, based on Szpilman’s
autobiography. Originally published in 1946 and suppressed for decades
by the Polish government, it recounts its author’s narrow escape
from the Nazi concentration camps, an experience similar to the
director’s. Alex Johnson, of casting agency Celestia Fox, told
the Guardian, ‘‘He feels there is someone out there, and
not necessarily an actor, who embodies what he feels about Szpilman.
Obviously, the ability to play the piano would help, but he is looking
at this in a very broad way.’
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