film / tv / substack / social media / lists / web / celeb / pajiba love / misc / about / cbr
film / tv / substack / web / celeb

canadiancobain.jpg

Casting the (Canadian) Kurt Cobain Biopic

By Miscellaneous | | February 18, 2010 |

By Miscellaneous | | February 18, 2010 |


Let’s see how I can tie an update on the development of Universal’s Kurt Cobain biopic to PaEHba Day: while I could just say that Seattle and Aberdeen are pretty darn close to Canada, I’ll go further: Oren Moverman has been brought in as the film’s new writer and director, replacing first draftsman David Benioff, who wrote an X-Men Origins film about Wolverine, who is from … Canada!

Do you need more? Well, in response to the news the hot trend of the day is once again to play the game of “who should play Kurt Cobain?” And so I’m going to throw some Canadian names into the mix:

Ryan Gosling (who happens to be Love’s reported first choice), Shawn Ashmore (X-Men) or Gregory Smith (Small Soldiers) for Kurt and Rachel McAdams, Sarah Chalke or Malin Ackerman for Courtney. Of course, on any other day I’d have said the only pair perfect for the roles is British actor Joe Anderson (Across the Universe) and Gollum (see the resemblance).

Here are what the other blogs are saying for the parts:

  • S.T. VanAirsdale at Movieline:
    Moverman also co-wrote the multi-star Bob Dylan bio I’m Not There, so include no fewer than seven actors in your casting suggestions just in case.
  • Erik Davis at Cinematical:
    In my opinion, there’s only one actor alive today who should be playing Cobain: Ben Foster. And since Moverman and Foster already have that connection from The Messenger, I’m real hopeful he’ll at least be considered. […] One other choice for me would be Emile Hirsch; another young (and somewhat underrated) actor capable of completely losing himself in a role.
  • Mike Sampson at JoBlo.com:
    Is it possible that another Oscar nominee from this year could be in line? This is wild speculation but Jeremy Renner spoke to the New York Times and said he’s in talks to star in Peter Berg’s BATTLESHIP and another film that he declined to discuss. Could it be this film?
  • Rama at Rama’s Screen:
    I wonder which young actress out there is cuckoo enough to play Courtney Love. I think Jared Leto should play Cobain.

  • Tom Ganjamie at Best Week Ever:
    I, for one, think they should hand this to Pixar and have it star his creepy Guitar Hero doppleganger, but that probably won’t happen. If the producers go the totally lame route and cast real humans in this thing, I have a few ideas for who should play the major players from the grunge-ol’ days:

    Kurt Cobain - Vincent Kartheiser (Mad Men’s Pete Campbell) from the Golden Globes

  • Museyon Guides Blog:
    Even as we’ve passed the 15 year mark since Cobain’s suicide, a true on-the-ground biopic seems too soon for those of us who saw him rise to fame. As well, there’s only so much screaming and shooting up one can take in a visit to the cinema. Instead, try out Michael Pitt’s turn as Blake, the disassociated frontman of Pagoda who shuffles around his mansion like a ghost until he offs himself in the guest house [in Last Days].