Alright…another alternative movie casting. I find these astonishing as casting is what makes or breaks a movie. The better a script is written; the better you should (in theory) be able to cast. So over lunch I was reading about the Matrix…it’s currently on Netflix.

Recently did an interview connected to Superman’s 40th Anniversary…the 1978 Christopher Reeve movie?

Reading a Robin Williams biography by Dave Itzkoff (it’s so-so…really it’s hard to capture Robin’s dynamic energy on a still page) and I’m at Dead Poets Society casting. For the role of John Keating the teacher…

So…one of the books I’m currently consuming is Powerhouse: The Untold Story of Hollywood’s Creative Artists Agency…they’re one of the most powerful talent agencies in the world. I picked it up as a business book; curious about the finer points of deal making when millions are on the line (my independence is more valuable than your acceptance). But! One of the book’s surprises is the casting stories.

If you think Eric Stoltz in Back to the Future or Tom Selleck as the Terminator is weird (yo Cameron why would a homicidal robot travel back in time only to grow a moustache?!) try these casting tales:

Following the success of Batman in 1990 Tim Burton began working on Edward Scissorhands…I’m reading Last Night at the Viper Room: River Phoenix and the Hollywood He Left Behind (no spoilers I don’t wanna know how the book ends) by Gavin Edwards.