Something we reported on earlier this year. Buried in the bottom of the ScreenDaily article about Cate Shortland’s new film, “Lore” is a tiny bit of post-shot casting news…
So-Yong Kim’s “For Ellen” has added Jena Malone to the cast that already featured Paul Dano and Jon Heder (the initial announcement was only the two male leads). The film follows an aspiring young rock star (Dano) who, in the midst of a divorce, decides to become a bigger part of his six-year-old daughter’s life. Jen Gatien and Bradley Rust-Gray (the upcoming “Jack & Diane”) are producing alongside Kim with delivery also set for spring 2011.
According to IMDB (which is probably correct in this instance since it’s after the fact), Margarita Levieva “(Adventureland”) and Dakota Johnson (“The Social Network” and Larry Clark’s upcoming “Savage Innocents”) also star.
Evidently it already shot and Dano recently spoke about it to the AV Club: “‘For Ellen’ is a really great, really beautiful script that So [Yong Kim] wrote and that’s a fantastic part and a part that I don’t think I’ve done. I get to play this selfish, sort of narcissistic prick who’s kind of a hard rocker: tattoos, jewelry, leather jacket—kind of a sexual part too. It’s something I haven’t done and I had to do it. I didn’t know if I could do it, but I knew something good would come out of it.”
Sounds like a nice change of pace for Dano who’s been falling into the trap of taciturn, pensive and sadsack roles of late (see “The Good Heart”). Mark this one down on your 2011 indie calendar. So-Yong Kim’s celebrated 2009 picture, “Treeless Mountain,” wasn’t exactly our favorite of the year, but it did show promise. We’re looking forward to more. Jenna Malone we like too, but she’s only been acting sporadically in the last few year (small roles in, “Into The Wild,” “The Messenger,” “The Soloist”) seemingly concentrating on her music career rather than full blown acting.