In one of the most unconventional casting “announcements” we’ve seen, actor Tom Hanks used his Twitter and TwitPic accounts to share who else will be appearing with him and Julia Roberts in his comedy Larry Crowne, which he wrote with Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and is currently directing.
Already picked up for distribution by Universal, the comedy has Hanks playing “a man forced to reinvent himself and find a new career as he navigates the second act of his life” and it will reunite him with Roberts after the two co-starred in Mike Nichols’ Charlie Wilson’s War two years ago. (In fact, the movie is already shooting on one of the same soundstages Nichols used for that movie.)
With a message simply stating:
http://twitpic.com/1b5ae9 – The Larry Crowne Casting Wall (incomplete). Hanx
Hanks posted the picture below, which includes headshots of himself and Roberts in the upper left, joined by 15 others who have been cast in the film, all in undisclosed roles. The most obvious additions are Oscar-nominated actress Taraji P. Henson in the center second row down, Bryan Cranston from AMC’s “Breaking Bad” and “Star Trek” star George Takei (top row, second from right). One astute commenter has noted that directly below Hanks is his “Bosom Buddies” co-star Peter Scolari.
UPDATE: Our astute readers helped pick out Wilmer Valderrama from “That ’70s Show,” Jon Seda below him and Bob Stephenson from “The Forgotten” (far right second down). Another TV actor Holmes Osborne is in the second column from the right at the bottom, and we also have confirmation that that’s Cedric the Entertainer above Henson. The ethnically diverse cast also includes Rami Malek, Malcolm Barrett and Maria Canals Barrera in the third column from the right, the upper right corner is Captain Dale Dye.
Wilson Morales of BlackFilm tells us the actress between Roberts and Cedric is British actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw who is appearing in a new television series called “Undercovers.”
You can click on the smaller image below to take you to the full-size picture of the cast of Tom Hanks’ Larry Crowne (so far). From left to right, and you can probably assume that each group has some sort of connection in the movie, is:
Tom Hanks with Peter Scolari below him
Julia Roberts and Bryan Cranston below her
Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Wilmer Valderrama and Jon Seda
Cedric the Entertainer and Taraji P. Henson
Rami Malek, Malcolm Barrett and Maria Canals Barrera
George Takei, unknown actress* and Holmes Osborne
Dale Dye and Bob Stephenson
*right now, the best guest for the mystery actress is Natascha McElhone, who appeared with George Clooney in Solaris
Thanks to all of our astute readers and commenters who helped fill in the blanks!
