Someone form the production was on the radio the other night talking about how Broadway productions are in dire straits – I can’t help but wonder if casting a disabled actor might actually help draw attention to the play and bring in audiences, though Jensen might then be worried about a sort of ‘freakshow’ appeal. Not sure how that might affect their insurance rates, though.
You know, though, there actually is a hearing-impaired* actress the proper age to play Helen Keller as a small child: Aryana Engineer. She’s adorable, too.
she’s not so impaired as to be considered deaf, but her mom is
True, just pointing out that one of those is more realistic. A deaf OR blind one makes sense, even though it still make be exclusionary. But one who is both? I can’t really imagine them becoming an actor, let alone a good enough one to be on Broadway.
Anyway, even if there is a blind or deaf actress out there, how many of them are all that good? Most young actors just aren’t that good. Being in a movie is fairly easy compared to live theatre–so often you can coach them into a good performance, scene by scene. But honestly, you’d probably want someone you know will do a decent job. Abigail Breslin seems fairly good, and on top of that she’s got the box office draw.
I agree completely. There can’t be many opportunities for blind and deaf actors out there, for starters, and you could probably argue that it’s more consistent with the message of Keller’s life to cast an actress who is blind or deaf. If you will, it’s a reasonable request but not reasonable to demand it. Broadway is at a point where you’re taking your life in your own hands if you are putting up a show that costs more than $50 and NOT casting a big name film or TV actor in the lead role. It sucks, but that’s the state of that business at the moment.
I do get irked when actresses gain weight for a role – why not find a heavier actress? Minnie Driver wasn’t that well-known when she put on weight for Circle of Friends, nor was Toni Collette and Muriel’s Wedding.
And Stacy Edwards was great in In the Company of Men, but they could easily have hired a deaf actress.
gigi, does it vex you when actors shed mass for a role, as Christian Bale so famously did for a movie whose name I forgot while typing this sentence? Or when actors gain mass for a role, as Pacino (or was it Deniro?) did for The Untouchables?
ETA: I am not trying to catch you in a contradiction; I am simply curious. Thirst for all knowledge and all that.
Apparently, it does for a lot of people. They talk about how it’s offensive to cast thin actors in fat roles, and that wearing fat suits is like the equivalent of black face.
I guess I was taking the caliber/celebrity of the actor into account. In these cases, people will go see the film because of that actor, and there may not be (isn’t) an emaciated actor of that stature (so to speak). That’s why I mentioned Minnie Driver and Toni Collette and left out Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones.
But I certainly take your point and am trying not to make it a fat person issue only.
The skinny-actors-shouldn’t-play-fat-parts thing is not my position, but even if I were, I don’t think it’d apply here. Kaylee was a long way from fat.
Yes, but the point is that even in someone who’s barely ‘not skinny’, the director tends to pick the actor or actress he likes, then says ‘go ahead gain this weight/this muscle mass/lose these pounds’ to follow. Not to mention ‘wear this wig/limp like this/go get a british accent.’ Tis acting!
Watch her midriff when she’s in profile. There’s just a little bit of tummy there, slightly more than you’d see in a generic Hollywood starlet. I take your point, though, and I agree with you that Kaylee was still on the thin side of average.