Not Looking The Part

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Whatever happened to the alleged plans of Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio to make The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, apparently with DiCaprio intending to play T.R. I guess it died...right? Because the consensus was that the Leo casting made as much sense as Tom Cruise playing Abraham Lincoln or Giovannni Ribisi playing Harry S. Truman?

Theodore Roosevelt in either his late 20s or early 30s; Leonardo DiCaprio at 30 or 31.

I'm mentioning this because I happened to watch John Milius's The Wind and the Lion last night, and I really loved Brian Keith's performance as the nation's 26th president This was largely a matter of internals, but the resemblance factor was a kick because Keith seemed like such a mirror image.

Has there even been a really successful performance of an historical picture in which the resemblance factor was practically zilch? The only one I can think of was the blue-eyed, honey-haired, perfectly pedicured Jeffrey Hunter's portrayal of Jesus of Nazareth in Nicholas Ray's King of Kings -- a perfectly absurd appearance and yet Hunter exuded dignity and directness, and was oddly touching at times.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on March 26, 2008 at 6:05 PM

comment #1

Wrecktum says ...

Anthony Hopkin's Nixon?

Posted by Wrecktum at March 26, 2008 7:35 PM

comment #2

Geoff says ...

Isn't DiCaprio trying to get BRAVE NEW WORLD started? I loved some of my high school books and that was one of them.

Posted by Geoff at March 26, 2008 7:42 PM

comment #3

raygo says ...

I think Leo playing Teddy Roosevelt seems more believable than Johnny Depp as Dillinger.

Posted by raygo at March 26, 2008 7:49 PM

comment #4

BurmaShave says ...

I love how you post a picture showing how easy it would be to make Leo look like Teddy. Remember he was a smaller man.

Posted by BurmaShave at March 26, 2008 7:52 PM

comment #5

ZacharyTF says ...

I remember while watching The Aviator that I thought that Leo would be perfectly cast as a young Orson Welles.

Posted by ZacharyTF at March 26, 2008 7:56 PM

comment #6

cinefan says ...

For a recent example, how about Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (brown-haired, thin with 6-pack abs) playing the rotund and red-haired Henry VIII?

Posted by cinefan at March 26, 2008 7:59 PM

comment #7

scooterzz says ...

just from the posted pics, i'd think it a snap to make leo into teddy.......
re: the question --- i've seen larry flint wheeled into sunday brunch @ the four seasons for a decade and never seen the woody harrelson resemblence...

Posted by scooterzz at March 26, 2008 7:59 PM

comment #8

Mgmax, le Corbeau says ...

BurmaShave is right-- although our image of TR is of a sort of Brian Dennehy-sized robust sort, he was actually a slight, sickly kid who went overboard compensating for his youth by getting all outdoorsy, charging up San Juan Hill, etc.

"I remember while watching The Aviator that I thought that Leo would be perfectly cast as a young Orson Welles."

Yes, well, that was sort of the point-- just as The Age of Innocence was Scorsese's version of The Magnificent Ambersons, The Aviator was his Citizen Kane.

Posted by Mgmax, le Corbeau at March 26, 2008 8:09 PM

comment #9

austin111 says ...

I think it would be interesting if nothing else to see those two involved in that project. I read the book The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt and really fell in love with him. A great President from a patrician family who came to realize that the little guy was getting the worst of it from the Republican party and started his own party as a rebuke. On top of that, he was sort of our first "green" president who basically established our first national park. A voracious reader and writer, intensely energetic and adventurous, who, aside from his tendency to push for a robust foreign policy, was often admirable. He packed a lot of living into his 60 years. While I agree that DiCaprio might be a hard fit for the role, stranger pairings have occurred. If the project is still in limbo, it doesn't surprise me. It would require a lot of money to do it up right.

Posted by austin111 at March 26, 2008 8:12 PM

comment #10

K. Bowen says ...

Henry VIII was actually an athlete when he was younger.

Posted by K. Bowen at March 26, 2008 8:47 PM

comment #11

TheJeff says ...

Roosevelt looked nothing like Brian Keith during the period that Scorsese wants to portray. He looked like...well, like DiCaprio.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cd/TR_NY_State_Assemblyman_1883.jpg

Posted by TheJeff at March 26, 2008 8:53 PM

comment #12

Breedlove says ...

I would kill to see this movie made. Of the 50 differnet projects Scorcese has been attached to in recent years, I'd have to say this is my first choice.

Posted by Breedlove at March 26, 2008 9:05 PM

comment #13

nemo says ...

TR and DiCaprio both have that big square head, which, by the way, they share with Jack Nicholson and me.

But DiCaprio is tall and thin, whereas TR was short and barrel-chested.

I also watched The Wind and The Lion a few weeks ago -- we must have both been watching it on TCM! Wonderful movie, which I haven't seen in decades, featuring a wonderful performance by Brian Keith as TR. A personal best for both John Milius and Brian Keith.

Sean Connery was pretty terrific as well, but he's pretty terrific in a lot of other movies as well.

Keith was 54, TR was 46. Not a big stretch. Despite his height, DiCaprio could convincingly play TR in his 30s.

TR could never fit into today's GOP. He couldn't even fit into 1912's GOP.

Posted by nemo at March 26, 2008 9:16 PM

comment #14

erniesouchak says ...

I think DiCaprio and Scorsese should take a break from each other.

I also think there's no way DiCaprio could play Orson Welles unless someone dubbed the voice.

And I think Wrecktum called it: Hopkins as Nixon is "WTF???" casting, but in a weird way, it works.

Posted by erniesouchak at March 26, 2008 9:54 PM

comment #15

insidah says ...

I'm sorry, but Leonardo is not the only talented actor out there, yet Scorcese keeps casting (and miscasting) him. Come on, Martin, I know you're getting old but do you have to be so set in your ways? Take a chance on someone new. The formula is really uninspiring.

Posted by insidah at March 26, 2008 9:57 PM

comment #16

D.Z. says ...

austin: Yeah, I'd respect him more, if he didn't occupy the Philippines.

Posted by D.Z. at March 26, 2008 10:19 PM

comment #17

BurmaShave says ...

D.Z., you have to stop.

Posted by BurmaShave at March 26, 2008 11:59 PM

comment #18

StoneFan1 says ...

I strongly dislike Leo and feel he has been miscast time after time after time. Putting him in a film playing T.R. (even a younger T.R.) would be a total disaster! Hopefully, this project will never happen.

Posted by StoneFan1 at March 27, 2008 12:58 AM

comment #19

atticusrex says ...

I have no real feelings one way or another about this possible casting. Tom Cruise was vilified for taking on the role of Lestat yet he pulled it off. It's what actors do... usually.

I mainly chiming in to give props to The Wind and The Lion.
I just love that movie and it was a bomb when it was released in 70mm no less. It's great and has everything in it, action, romance, adventure, politics, war, kids, danger, the kitchen sink, comedy.

The movie also proves another weird point... Sean Connery can play any character from anyplace in anytime and get away with his wonderful Scottish brogue.

Oh one more thing about TW&TL... One of the all time perfect scores from Jerry Goldsmith as well.

Posted by atticusrex at March 27, 2008 4:11 AM

comment #20

atticusrex says ...

I have no real feelings one way or another about this possible casting. Tom Cruise was vilified for taking on the role of Lestat yet he pulled it off. It's what actors do... usually.

The movie also proves another weird point... Sean Connery can play any character from anyplace in anytime and get away with his wonderful Scottish brogue.

Oh one more thing about TW&TL... One of the all time perfect scores from Jerry Goldsmith as well.

Posted by atticusrex at March 27, 2008 4:11 AM

comment #21

filmfan says ...

I want Scorsese to finally make Silence and not with Leo. That should be his next film after Shutter Island. Anyone else with me on this?

Posted by filmfan at March 27, 2008 4:23 AM

comment #22

Mgmax, le Corbeau says ...

I found the Rosebud to D.Z.'s obsessive need to say something negative about everything. It's from the old BBS of Hollywood Elsewhere in 1994:

>what do u think of the casting of Richard Attenbrough as Santa Claus in the remake of Miracle on 34th St

>at least Attenboro would have brought me the Teddy Ruxpin he promised me unliike that fat ahole Santa

Sp that's it! All this reflexive, robotic Bush-bashing and America-bashing and everything else is just because of a child's broken heart. It's time to get together and give DZ a big H-E group hug so that at last he can stop responding to every topic in the exact same way.

Posted by Mgmax, le Corbeau at March 27, 2008 5:02 AM

comment #23

Rich S. says ...

I'll see your Jeffrey Hunter and raise you a Max von Sydow. (With a sidecar wager on John Wayne as The Centurion - or Genghis Khan.)

Posted by Rich S. at March 27, 2008 5:39 AM

comment #24

moviemaniac2002 says ...

You've gotta savor that exchange of dialogue
between Teddy(Brian Kieth and John Hay(John
Huston) over Teddy's plan to big-stick'-it to
Morrocco....("Why spoil the beauty of the thing
with legality") Hmmm...why does that have
a familiar ring to it?

Posted by moviemaniac2002 at March 27, 2008 5:56 AM

comment #25

Mgmax, le Corbeau says ...

If only modern presidents took Hays' no-bullshit approach to matters like this: "We want Pedicaris alive or Raisuli dead."

We'd have been done with that lying old thief Arafat after Munich.

Posted by Mgmax, le Corbeau at March 27, 2008 7:05 AM

comment #26

berg says ...

re: Leo plays O Welles - his voice would have to be dubbed ...

wasn't Vincent D'Onofrio's voice dubbed when he played Welles in Ed Wood?

Posted by berg at March 27, 2008 7:57 AM

comment #27

ElstonGunnAICN says ...

Milius has wanted to do another Roosevelt film for a long time. I want to say it would have him dying of the tropical disease and thinking back on his younger days.

Posted by ElstonGunnAICN at March 27, 2008 8:35 AM

comment #28

MilkMan says ...

Matthew McConauhey
is
General Custer
in
Just Keep Standin'

Summer 2010

Posted by MilkMan at March 27, 2008 8:36 AM

comment #29

MikeSchaeferSF says ...

MilkMan, you are on a ROLL.

Posted by MikeSchaeferSF at March 27, 2008 8:47 AM

comment #30

D.Z. says ...

Mgmax: "If only modern presidents took Hays' no-bullshit approach to matters like this: "We want Pedicaris alive or Raisuli dead." We'd have been done with that lying old thief Arafat after Munich."

Yeah, Saddam, Suharto, and Musharraf really make the case that we should interfere more often in other people's affairs.

Posted by D.Z. at March 27, 2008 3:13 PM

comment #31