If you’re an actor under the age of 35 and you haven’t been cast in “X-Men: First Class,” or at least incorrectly linked with a role, it might be time to get a new agent. The project, which finally kicks off filming in three weeks, is still filling major roles (although to be fair, there seem to be more speaking parts in this than in “Nashville”), nearly three months since the first announcement.
The latest actor poised to come aboard is Australian Rose Byrne, who’s in talks to play Moira MacTaggart, a genetic scientist who also serves as the love interest for Charles Xavier (James McAvoy). The part was played by Olivia Williams (“Rushmore”) in Brett Ratner’s “X-Men: The Last Stand”), and Rosamund Pike had been previously linked to the role in Matthew Vaughn’s reboot of the franchise.
If she signs she would join (deep breath) McAvoy, Michael Fassbender as Magneto, Alice Eve as Emma Frost, Caleb Landry as Banshee, Nicholas Hoult as Beast, Lucas Till as Havoc, Kevin Bacon as an unknown villain (we’ve heard whispers he’s a CIA-type, rather than a mutant), Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, “Twilight” star Edi Gathegi as Darwin, and the newly announced Jason Flemyng as Azazel. Presumably, it would also put her out of the running to star against Casey Affleck in “The F Word.”
On the one hand, we sort of admire Vaughn and co-writer Jane Goldman for going a different route with the series, and seemingly leaving out some of the bigger-name mutant characters. On the other, this sounds like kind of a clusterfuck, with a dozen or so principal characters; an approach that certainly didn’t serve Ratner well with the last effort in the franchise. But it is a strong cast, featuring exactly zero members of the Black Eyed Peas, so it can only be a step up from “Wolverine,” right? [The Hollywood Reporter]