Well, the cast for the Coen Brothers' forthcoming music world drama "Inside Llewyn Davis," has added another interesting name, with Variety reporting that stage actress Jeanine Serralles has joined the production. The actress previously had parts in James Gray's wildly underrated "Two Lovers" and Julie Taymor's jaw-dropping (in a bad way) "Across the Universe." She joins a cast that already includes Coen film regular John Goodman, Justin Timberlake, Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan, in the period film about the Greenwich Village folk music scene in the 1960s.
She's not the only theater vet who looks likely to get involved; legendary Shakespearean actor F. Murray Abraham, best known for his Oscar win as Best Actor for the role of Salieri in "Amadeus," is in talks to play Bud Grossman, a legendary folk manager. It's a while since we've seen Abraham on our cinema screens ("Thir13en Ghosts" is the major one that springs to mind, although like Serralles, he recently cropped up in "The Good Wife"), but it should be a treat, and we're actually amazed that he's not been in a Coens picture before (although he did star in Ethan's play "Almost An Evening").
Variety describes the movie as being about Isaac's titular folk musician, who, "despite being a talented singer and guitarist, can't make ends meet," and is apparently based on friend-of-Dylan Dave Van Ronk, while Timberlake will play a rival folk singer, Mulligan his wife, and Goodman a jazz musician who takes a road-trip with Isaac's character; no word yet on who Serralles will play.
It's an interesting subject for the filmmakers, and one we can see utilizing their various talents for incorporating music as well as the delicate tonal shifting that is so important to all of their films. What's even more interesting is that the film, which is produced by "The Social Network" heavy hitter Scott Rudin, is starting production without a domestic distribution partner, although we're sure someone will step in without too many problems. Filming is scheduled to begin early next year, which means it is entirely possible it'll be an awards contender next fall or winter. We, obviously, can't wait. This year off from a new Coens movie was a real bummer.
Dave Van Ronk – "Cocaine"
Dave Van Ronk – "The House of the Rising Sun"