The lovely and talented Charlize Theron has signed on for a small role in the adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s award-winning, post-apocalyptic novel The Road, according to Variety. She will play the wife of the protagonist, and if you’ve read the book, you’ll understand that she will be seen mostly in flashbacks.
The most interesting part of the article is that it says she is joining Viggo Mortensen, who as far as we knew last October, had dropped out of talks for the project and Guy Pearce was in negotiations for the role (and as much as I love Mortensen, this was some casting I was ecstatic about). This made sense to me because director John Hillcoat had preciously worked with Pearce on the masterful The Proposition and I felt Pearce had the meek and mild presence that would fit the character more appropriately. My guess is that the producers felt Pearce wasn’t a big enough name for such a high-profile, hotly anticipated project.
Looks like this is pretty legit and the deal is sealed though, because filming is set to begin next month. While I know Mortensen will nail the role – I don’t doubt that in the least – I had envisioned Pearce to an extent while I was reading it, far before they ever brought him into the discussions, so I was rooting for him to snag this… and I still think he would have been a stronger choice (the only other I can think of wanting more in this would be Gary Oldman). As far as Theron goes, I’m hoping the “small role” part stays that way and the producers don’t try to beef it up any just for the sake of having a love interest – because if we know anything about Cormac McCarthy adaptations, staying as true to the source material as possible is a recipe for success. Plus, this is about the relationship between a man and his son, not a man and his wife.
Now if you already haven’t, read this now. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for a reason, you know.
