Monday, July 22, 2013

Magnussen set to replace Gyllenhaal in "Into the Woods"

According to Deadline, Tony-nominated actor Billy Magnussen is in negotiations to replace Jake Gyllenhaal as one of the princes in Disney's upcoming musical Into the Woods.  Gyllenhaal dropped out last week due to scheduling conflicts.  Magnussen is probably best known for his recent pants-dropping turn as "Spike" in the Broadway play Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, for which he received his nomination as Best Featured Actor in a Play.  I don't know much about his singing ability, but the couple of clips I've checked out on You Tube demonstrate that he has a clue.  I can't imagine he's any worse than Gyllenhaal would've been vocally.

The Deadline article suggests that he'll be be playing Rapunzel's Prince.  IMDb continues to list Chris Pine in that role, so I guess we don't really know who will play which prince.  I've been listing Gyllenhaal and Pine as either/or, so I'll continue to do so with Pine/Magnussen.  With how quickly Magnussen was snatched up, I imagine he was one of director Rob Marshall's first backups.  Here's where the cast list stands as of this news:

The Witch: Meryl Streep (confirmed)
The Wolf: Johnny Depp (confirmed)
The Baker: James Corden (confirmed)
Cinderella's/Rapunzel's Prince: Chris Pine (confirmed)/Billy Magnussesn (rumored)
The Baker's Wife: Emily Blunt (confirmed)
The Stepmother: Christine Baranski (confirmed)
Stepsister: Megan Hilty (rumored)
Jack's Mother: Tracey Ullman (confirmed)
Jack: Daniel Huttlestone (rumored)
Cinderella: Anna Kendrick (rumored)



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